


Enhanced Love

by scarletassasin



Category: The Shannara Chronicles (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 12:58:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 36,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8286677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletassasin/pseuds/scarletassasin
Summary: (Modern Superhero AU) Amberle has always wanted to use her abilities for a good cause. Allanon and Wil offer her that opportunity to help take down a gang of elusive enhanced and powered criminals. Amberle meets Eretria, a member of the Rover gang who seems more useful in their mission than she initially thought, even without any special abilities. [Basically a superpower (not superhero) alternate modern day universe where the group takes down superpowered and supernatural threats to their world.] And there will be some canon stuff and some canon divergence.





	1. Chapter 1

This was going to be Amberle’s second time taking this exam. Running and stamina was always her least favorite part of the entire ordeal. But she was not going to give up on what she truly wanted.

 She ran her last lap around the track and met her uncle Ander at the the finish line with a stopwatch in his hand. She bent over resting her hands on her knees and looked up at her uncle. 

“How’d I do?” she asked between breaths.

“Definitely better than last time but probably not good enough for my brother” he joked. Amberle laughed.

“Yeah well, we both know he’s just being stubborn. I was just as good as everyone else during the last initiation exam” she scoffed. 

“He just wants to keep you safe. Your his only niece after all”

“I can take care of myself. I’m not a little girl anymore. I have these powers so I might as well use them for something meaningful”. She said while looking down at her hands. She had telekinesis which was one of the rarer abilities but it put a lot of force on her hands and her mind sometimes. 

“I know that. We both know that. We can’t but feel protective over you. We practically raised you ever since your father-“ Ander cut off his sentence, knowing that mentioning Amberle’s father would just make her sad. And right on queue, Amberle’s head lowered and she scratched her elbow, which she usually did when she felt uneasy. “Listen, you’re gonna be great tomorrow, no matter what Arion says” he smiled at his niece and opened his arms, offering a hug.

The girl smiled and hugged him. “I just want to do something useful. I don’t want to be known as the mayor’s spoiled granddaughter who just sits around in a mansion all day.”

"And you're not" he replied. "You're so much more than that and you'll get to prove it one day. I know it. Now, how about some training that doesn't involve running."

"Oh finally!" she grinned, and they walked over to the target practice area.

 

* * *

 

 

The hours counting down to her exam felt like they were going by so slow. She was nervous but also eager to get it all over with. She paced up and down the hallway outside the locker room when she heard someone call her name behind her. Amberle turned around to see Lorin coming up to her. Lorin had taken the exam with her last time and was now a part of her uncle's enhanced crime fighting unit. The group was made up of anyone who had "special abilities" who was able to pass her Uncle Arion's initiation exam to take on enhanced/powered criminals and cases that the normal police couldn't handle. People called them "The Chosen" or "The Chosen Ones." Her Unle Arion was head of the police in their city, with her Uncle Andor as a second in command to him, positions given to them through hard work but also through their father-her grandfather-eventing Elessedil, the mayor. She and Lorin seemed to be equally matched during their last exam but her Uncle's stubbornness was an obstacle preventing her from joining the unit.

"Lorin. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be down at the station?"

"I came to see you and wish you luck with your exam today. Besides, it's a slow week for our unit and I'll get a call if I'm needed." he smiled at her and brought his hand up to her cheek and kissed her.

Amberle then pulled back and smiled at Lorin "Thank you for being here. It means a lot to me."

"Of course" He smiled. "And when you pass this time and join the unit we'll get to see each other all the time at work."

"You seem very sure that I won't be failing this time" she grinned playfully.

"Just optimistic" Just as she was about to walk into the locker rooms Lorin's face light up as if her remembered something. "Oh wait! I just remembered this new trick I learned that I wanted to show you." Lorin had the ability to control fire. He created a small ball of flame in the palm of his hand and it slowly formed into a rose of fire. "Who needs actual roses when you can make fire roses?" he joked.

Amberle giggled and thanked him before kissing him again and walked into the locker room. 

After changing into her athletic gear for the physical test she walked out to the track field. These exams were always held at the local track field which had plenty of other courts and activity areas (like the target/shooting range). She saw her Uncle Arion preparing his paperwork and the two other recruits standing by the track. From the corner of her eye she could see some recognizable long blonde hair. She turned to bleachers and saw Wil and Allanon standing there having a conversation and not even seeing her. 

"Wil!" she called and walked over to the two of them. They cut their conversation short when they noticed Amberle walking towards them. Wil smiled and met her halfway for a hug.

"Amberle! It's so great to see you" The boy said a he let her go.

"You too." She turned to Allanon "And it's great to see you too Allanon" she walked up to the older man and hugged him.

"Likewise Amberle." the man said happily in his usual calm voice. Amberle met Allanon when he worked for her grandfather as an advisor at Arborlon City Hall. Allanon was an expert on enhanced individuals since he himself also had abilities. He was telepathic and telekinetic but he was stronger than Amberle since he was older and wiser. Wil worked as an intern for Allanon which is how she met him and they became great friends. Will had simpler a simpler ability of creating energy blasts, an ability he had inherited from his father and it was also another rare ability. Wil had once considered joining "The Chosen" unit but chose to work with Allanon instead. The two of them now worked on their own dealing with enhanced individuals and criminals with approval from the mayor but not so much from the police or her Uncle Arion.

"What are you two even doing here anyway? If you don't mind me asking."

"We're here to see if any of the recruits here would like to join our cause." Allanon answered.

"That includes you too by the way" Wil added. Amberle was surprised.

"I-uhm-I'm flattered that you'd consider me to join your group- _honored_ actually, but I think my duties are needed elsewhere."

"We undestand." Allanon said. "If you ever change your mind, you know where to find us."

"Of course." she replied. She then heard her Uncle's whistle blow.

"Alright recruits! It's time to see if you've got what it takes to join the enhanced task force. We'll be starting with stamina and speed, and then we'll be testing your control over your abilities." He stated. Amberle waved at Allanon and Wil before walking to the start line. "It's five laps as fast as you all can go" Arion reminded them. He blew his whistle, signaling the recruits to get into a starting position. When he blew it again they were off.

 

Amberle finished second out of the three of them. Like at the last exam, she was the only girl there and these boys were pretty aggressive when it came to wining. She was glad it was just two other recruits this time instead of four like the last time. Very few people actually had powers in Arborlon.

The next part of the exam was testing their abilities and their control over them. She wasn't as powerful as she could be yet but she had complete control over her abilities. The first recruit to be tested was a shorter boy with red hair who could control metal. He couldn't fully bend metal and the shapes that he formed with metal weren't too good but it wasn't something a little training wouldn't fix. The next recruit was a taller boy with long dark hair who had the superhuman strength. He looked like he would be a definite choice for her Uncle's unit. Then it was Amberle's turn. She felt her heart pounding and she felt like she was sweating a lot more now. She fumbled with her hands and walked over to the shooting range.

Just as she had practiced, she was supposed to use her telekinesis to fling the thin metal disks and larger metal spheres in front of her at the targets ahead. She felt her hands shake as she lifter the first disk. She closed her eyes and calmed herself before motioning her hand towards the target. The disk flew and barely hit the target. She was nervous and she was letting it get to her because usually she would be able to do this without any misses. She took a deep breath and tried again, this time the disk hit her target right in the center. The next few disks all hit the target, and most of them hit the center of it. Then she moved on to spheres which weren't as easy to throw as the disks since they were heavier and not as aerodynamic. She lifted the first one up and flung it at the target. She hit it again, as did the next one and the one after that. 

When she was finished, she turned to her Uncle and he nodded at her. She then joined the other recruits near the bleachers. Her uncle Ander was sitting in the front row and gave her two thumbs up with a smile. She smiled back and then turned back to her other uncle.

"After going through your written and mental exams yesterday and your physical exams today, I've come to a conclusion for each of your statuses as recruits." He paused and looked them all over one more time "Congratulations, you have all passed and are now part of the enhanced crime unit." Amberle felt surprised and couldn't hide the grin on her face. Her uncle gave her a wink before telling them all that they were required to check in the following day at the station for their duties. 

Arion's phone then went off and he apologized before leaving, saying that it was work. Amberle could see Lorin in the bleachers, also standing up to leave. It might have been a slow week but it was clear, this was an enhanced criminal case. 

She went to find her friend Catania in the crowd. When she did, they both left for her house to celebrate her success. Her grandfather congratulated her as soon as she walked through the door and then proceeded to walk back to his home-office. 

"So you'll have to wear a uniform now right? Since you're a _c_ _hosen one_ " Catania joked as she set her bag on Amberle's bed and sat down next to it. Amberle opened one of her drawers and pulled out some clean (and non-sweaty) clothes.

"Very funny" Amberle responded "I'm not a _chosen one_ , I'm just part of an elite badass task force of enhanced individuals to take on enhanced criminals" she said teasingly.

"Oh why don't you gloat some more. It's not like your hair could get any bigger" Catania teased and laughed.

"Shut up" Amberle laughed and threw a near by pillow at her friend. She then walked into the bathroom to shower. 

When she was dressed, she walked out and picked up her wallet and purse before she and Catania left for a proper celebration. As they descended the staircase, Amberle notice her uncle Ander was talking to her grandfather near the doorway. He didn't look his usual cheery self. She caught a part of their conversation.

"And how many enhanced did we lose?" her grandfather asked her uncle.

"Two, and one injured. The other two are fine but shocked. They're all back at the station with Arion."

"What's going on?" Amberle interjected. Her uncle and her grandfather gave her sorrowful looks. She knew something was wrong.

"Our enhanced crime unit got into a violent brawl with a group of powered criminals.Two of them were killed" her uncle answered, not making eye contact with her.

"Lorin-" she asked.

Her uncle let out a sigh. "I'm sorry Amberle"

"No...No, no no no! This better not be some sort of sick joke!" She yelled while trying to hold back her tears. She felt Catania's hand on her shoulder ready to comfort her. Her uncle shook his head and apologized again. Amber's knees buckled beneath her but Catania caught her and helped her walk upstairs back to her room. After a lot of crying and comforting, the two girls sat in silence. Amberle felt like she was locked in a sigh room and told Catania that she needed some air. When Catania stood up to follow her, Amberle said she preferred to be alone. 

 

She walked out the front door, got in her car and drove off. At first she didn't know where she was going but then she thought of an old park that she and Lorin used to frequent when they were younger. That area was now considered a bad part of town but she didn't care. When she got there she grabbed some pepper spray from the car's glove compartment, put it in her purse and walked to the swing set. Lorin was never a fan of the swings so it was always something she did alone but it was still her favorite thing to do in the park. She sat on the swing and pushed herself back and forth with her feet on the ground. She and Lorin were friends for years. They started becoming more than friends a few months back and losing him felt like losing a really close friend more than losing a significant other. Either way, it still hurt and she felt helpless and guilty. If she had been there, maybe things would have been different. Maybe he would have still been alive. Maybe-

Her thought process was interrupted by some leaves crunching to her right. She pulled her pepper spray out of her purse and aimed it at the person walking up to her.

"Whoa I come in peace. No need to use _that_ " the girl said while raising her arms up to signal she was unarmed. Amberle was a bit jumpy because this _was_ a bad area so she put her pepper spray back in her purse.

"I'm sorry. It's been a long day and I thought you were a mugger."

"Would a mugger really look this good though?" The girl joked gesturing at herself. Amberle smiled but didn't look up at the girl who she could see from the corner of her eye was wearing a leather jacket. She sat on the swing next to her.

"You look a little overdressed to be in this part of town princess. And a bit underdressed for this weather." Amberle looked down at her strapless dark purple dress which she wore to go out to celebrate realizing why she had just been called a princess and then she realized how cold it actually was outside without a jacket.

"Yeah, I left in a bit of a hurry."

"How come?"

"I needed to be alone. I- I lost a close friend tonight"

"Oh" The girl paused. "That sucks. I'm sorry."

"Thanks" she replied and finally looked up at the girl with dark hair and brown eyes. She had a backpack on her."I'm Amberle" she put her hand forward as an offer to shake.

"Eretria" the girl took her hand and shook it.

 


	2. Chapter 2

"It's nice to meet you Eretria" Amberle smiled at the girl. "You don't live around _here_ do you?" She doubted this girl could live in a neighborhood like this.

"Just a few blocks down from here actually. I know _you_ don't live anywhere near here though. Being the mayor's granddaughter and all-"

"What?!" Amberle said completely taken aback. The girl's cocky grin just seemed to widen.

"You thought you wouldn't be recognizable princess? I've seen you on the news. I don't know why you're currently in one of the _worst_ parts of this city, but you really stand out, and I'm surprised no one's tried to rob you yet to be quite honest."

"I appreciate the honesty, and the optimism, but I can take care of myself." Amberle replied.

"Yeah that pepper spray had me _real_ scared. I almost ran off." Eretria joked. 

"Stop it" Amberle laughed. She didn't know this girl, but she was making her smile and she enjoyed it. She was able to forget all the pain and sadness and enjoy this mysterious girl's company instead.

"No really, I thought I was a goner." Eretria continued teasing and Amberle continued laughing. Eretria's eyes gave off a sense of confidence, never leaving Amberle's during their entire conversation which was inviting yet intimidating. Normally, Amberle wouldn't be able to maintain eye contact for so long with a stranger, but there was something about Eretria that made it impossible for Amberle to look away.

"So why are _you_ out here so late at night alone?" she asked.

"I'm meeting up with someone. And I live in this neighborhood so I get a pass to being alone here at night. You on the other hand-"

"Stand out. I know, you've mentioned it. It's just- this place- I used to come here all the time when I was a kid, before the local gangs added it to their territory. Me and Lorin- We would come here after school and- I just needed to be alone and this was the first place that came to mind." Amberle sniffled, feeling her eyes tearing up again.

"I know that feeling. A place that's yours where everything else fades away. Where you can just be yourself."

"Exactly! I just wish that ice cream truck that used to stop here would come by at night too." She joked

"The white and blue one that didn't play any music so the driver would just honk and wait for customers?"

"Yeah that's the one!" Amberle laughed. "The popsicles and most of the ice cream flavors were always mostly melted so the the only edible options were chocolate, vanilla and mint."

"And that ice cream man always looked like he would rather be anywhere else" They both laughed. "I haven't seen that truck come by here in years. Eretria paused before asking "Was Lorin your friend that-"

"Yes" Amberle paused and let out a sigh. "I don't even know how it happened. And maybe if I was there, things would have been different. Maybe I could have helped."

"You can't blame yourself. Things like this happen and you can't control it or change it." It sounded like her comforting speech wasn't over but she paused when the sound of a motorcycle grew closer to them. They both looked to the street when said motorcycle came into view and pulled up on the sidewalk behind Amberle's car. The driver pulled off his helmet and Amberle recognized the long blonde hair that flowed out.

"Wil?" Amberle got up and started walking towards him. Eretria didn't move from the swing she was sitting on. 

"Amberle, we've all been worried sick. Catania knew you'd be here. I'm so glad you're okay." The boy frantically went on.

"I'm fine, I just- needed some air." she waved her hand nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Lorin and the others. You're uncle thinks it was a targeted attack on the entire enhanced unit."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're the last one Amberle. The rest of the chosen- They were all killed." Wil replied.

"What? I thought the others were just injured."

"One of the Chosen was replaced by a shapeshifter during the entire ordeal and he or she killed the rest of the Chosen at the station. Even the new recruits from today. I guess they haven't found you yet but we have to get back to the mansion where it's safe." 

"So you're one of the enhanced too?" she heard Eretria say from behind her. She turned around to see the girl walking towards them. "You're full of surprises aren't you princess"

"Eretria?" Wil asked. He looked and sounded shocked to see her.

"Nice to see you too Wil" Eretria grinned.

"You know each other?" Amberle asked looking between the two of them. Eretria had a smug grin on her face and Wil looked kind of irritated and angry.

"Yeah we met at a party once and she _robbed_ me." he said gesturing at the girl.

"Is that all you took away from that night? I thought we had fun." The girl gave a faux-pout.

"Fun? What?" Amberle just kept getting more and more confused.

"She tried to seduce me and when I started trusting her, she robbed me blind. She's a rover, it's what they do" Wil explained, sounding more and more annoyed when recalling the memories.

"You're a rover?! Wait- Were you acting all nice to me just so you could rob me?" Anger started rising in Amberle's voice. Of all the people to seek comfort from, of course Amberle has the luck of running into a rover.

 The girl chuckled nervously. "Well, that was the plan initially, but after a while I kind of felt sorry for you cause you seemed to be having a bad night so-"

"This is unbelievable" Amberle interjected. "You were manipulating me"

"Hey! I never went through with it. No need to judge me like I actually stole anything."

"You came up to me with the intention of robbing me. I'm sorry I can't be so forgiving. You rovers-"

"Yeah?" Eretria cut her off. "What about us rovers?" She walked closer to Amberle, standing right in front of her, a little too close for comfort, staring at her with an angered and slightly hurt expression. "You got something to say princess? Say it to my face." She challenged her. 

"Look Eretria, we don't want any trouble okay? Were just gonna leave." Wil tried to prevent the possible fight unfolding in front of him, slowly pulling Amberle away. Amberle refused to tear her gaze away from Eretria. The tension between the two of them grew with every passing second. "Amberle." Wil tried to get the girl's attention again. "Come on, let's go." Amberle looked at the boy whose gaze was pleading her not to start anything. She let out a sigh and started walking towards her car.

"That's what I thought."Amberle heard Eretria say grumpily behind her. 

She got into her car and Wil told her he'd follow her on his bike bak to the mansion. She started the car and drove off, the only thing her mind would focus on was this new experience in the park. She kept thinking of Eretria who went from intriguing her to irritating her within the span of a few minutes. An actual conversation she was enjoying turning out to be a lie. She had the gall to play innocent. The frustration had Amberle reliving that moment in her head. All she could think about was staring back into Eretria's eyes with tension thick enough to be cut with a knife. Before she realized it, she was back at the mansion. She got out of the car and she could see Wil getting off his bike to her right. He took of his helmet and they both walked through the front door. She was greeted by her uncle Ander who hugged her as soon as she walked in.

"We were so worried about you. Are you alright? Nothing happened to you right?" he asked.

"Besides a run in with a slightly belligerent rover, no, nothing happened."

"Amberle" she heard Allanon to her right. "I imagine Wil has told you about everything that happened since you were gone." She nodded. "We'd like to have a word with you." He motioned to her grandfather's office and she followed him in there. Her grandfather was waiting for her with her uncle Arion. Wil and her uncle Ander followed her into the office and closed the door behind them. "We believe your life is in danger Amberle." Allanon started. "The shapeshifter that killed the rest of the enhanced unit was never caught so we believe the station may be compromised. This _mansion_ may even be compromised."

"The point is, it's not safe for you here" her grandfather added. "We've decided that it would be best for you to stay with Allanon and Wil until this is all resolved."

"I don't understand. Why would this shapeshifter want to kill me?" I wasn't even there."

"The shapeshifter is part of a new gang of unknown enhanced criminals. We were trying to stop a few of them from robbing a bank earlier today." Arion added "It looks like this gang was targeting our enhanced officers. We think they may also be responsible for the deaths of enhanced civilians too. Whatever their cause is, you're probably one of their targets and we can't risk keeping you here."

"We could also use your help with all our research on these new criminals. We've been building our own case files and we've also run into this gang a few times. An extra set of hands wouldn't hurt." Allanon added.

It wasn't an ideal situation, just leaving to live somewhere else for who knows how long, but after the night she'd been through, Amberle didn't want to argue. "I- I'll just go get my stuff." She walked out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom.

 

* * *

 

 

Shortly after Amberle and Wil left, Eretria picked up her back pack and sat on the edge of the sidewalk and waited. She didn't want to admit it, but she was disappointed with how things turned out with Amberle. She _was_ going to rob her but the girl had her intrigued. She wasn't how she expected her to be at all. To be fair, the news outlets and magazine paint her as some sort of spoiled rich kid, but she actually seemed more grounded and humble. And although their conversation was cut short, Eretria found it easy to talk to her. But she was just fooling herself. How could someone like Amberle even be just friends with a rover. They were different people with different lifestyles.Her train of thought was cut off by someone tugging the backpack on her back and tossing her into the tall wooden fence of the house behind her.

"Eretria" Cephalo greeted her as one of his larger and unintelligent lackeys held her up against the fence by the throat. "Where is my money?" He asked while twirling a small pocket knife in his hands.

"I'm working on it" she said through gritted teeth. "It's in my bag" Cephalo nodded at his flunky to let her go. She rubbed her neck to soothe the pain and then pulled her bag off her back, opening it to show Cephalo the money inside.

"Where's the rest?" he asked angrily.

"The new gang didn't buy all the guns we offered. The rest of the weapons are back at the warehouse. And then a couple of the businesses couldn't make the full payment this month."

"Did you push them?"

"Of course I did. They had nothing else to give up."

"If you pushed and threatened them some more you would have had the full payments. Your first solo run and you can't even get the full payments. You growing soft on me Eretria? Or are you just covering up for the money you're setting aside for yourself?"

"I'm _not_ stealing your money." Cephalo unfolded his knife and brought it up to her cheek, pushing her against the fence.

"Don't lie to me girl. I took you in and took care of you and this is how you repay me?" He dragged the knife down, forming a cut on her left cheek.

"I'm not lying to you. I swear." Cephalo let go of her and folded his knife before putting it back in his pocket.

 

"I'm considering whether  I should keep you around anymore or not. I don't think you could make the cut to stay in the gang." he said while he turned around and started to walk away.

Eretria started following him "No, wait! I might have a lead on something big" Cephalo stopped walking and turned around to face her.

"What is it?"

"The mayor's granddaughter. I ran into her and she's also enhanced. If I could bring her to you, a lot of people would be willing to pay you for her."

"If you bring her to me, you'll be free of your debt to me. Even for the money you lost at that heist last month."

"It's not my fault someone snitched." she argued.

"Either way, you do this and you're free of all debt. You got that?"

"Yeah"

"Good girl. You're starting to think like a smarter criminal now." he said putting his arm around her shoulders as he started walking towards his car. He lifted his arm and got into the passenger seat of his car with his lackey getting into the driver's seat. "You have three days to pull this off" he said before the car drove off.

"Sure" she said somberly before walking off. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if things seem a bit slow right now. This might be a bit of a slow burn but things will start picking up next chapter which should be up soon. And definitely more action and princess rover stuff too.

Amberle set down her duffle bag on the bed before looking around and fully taking in the new room where she would be living for who knows how long. The walls were plain white, the only difference between them and her bedroom at home was the lack of posters and the small colorful tapestry she had hanging on one of her walls. She appreciated the fact that the bed was a queen sized one rather than a small twin bed as she had expected. The sheets were gray and they looked new, and right next to the bed was a small nightstand with a lamp on it. On the other side of the room, there was a four-drawered dresser with a mirror hanging on the wall above it and a closet to its left and the entrance to the small bathroom to its right. There were two windows on the wall across from the doorway of the room, giving her a view of the street below.

Allanon's "headquarters" was a small apartment in the city building that he owned entirely to himself. There first floor was a big empty space with no windows, and with boxes and furniture everywhere. Wil said it was their storage room. The second floor had a kitchen, a briefing room which she found kind of funny because their team consisted of him and Wil so far and a living room with two large couches and a tv. The third floor was a narrow hallway with four doors, leading to four different bedrooms. It was all bigger than she'd expected but it was nothing compared to her grandfather's mansion. 

"If there's _anything_ you need, you let me know" She heard Wil say as he dropped off two other bags. "My room is right across the hall" She nodded and thanked him for his help. "I'm sorry for everything you're going through. I know how all of this must be so hard for you but we'll be there for you" he added before leaving her room and closing the door behind him.

She sat down on her bed with no motivation to unpack and pulled out her phone to pass the time. When that didn't help to lighten her mood she went downstairs. She hadn't eaten anything all night so she went to the kitchen first. Allanon and Wil were both there eating pizza they had just ordered. 

"Hey" Wil said in a cheerful yet also calm manner as if he knew just how uncomfortable she felt. "You hungry?" he handed her a paper plate which she took and served herself a slice of pizza. The two men were leaning against the counter while eating but Amberle didn't feel like standing so she took a seat at the table nearby. The there of them ate in silence until Wil decided to try and lighten the mood. 

"Hey Allanon, you know who Amberle ran into earlier tonight?" Allison looked at him curiously. "Eretria"

"That rover girl that took your wallet?" 

"Yup" 

"The one you thought had a crush on you until you realized she took your wallet both times you talked to her?" Allanon continued.

"Yeah, that one" Wil snickered nervously while blushing. Amberle couldn't help but giggle at Wil's naiveness. Then she thought of how easily _she_ had trusted Eretria and tried to cover up her laughter from Wil but she ultimately failed. "Oh you think that's funny Amberle? Even after the same thing almost happened to you tonight?" He teased. 

"I didn't actually get robbed though did I?" she laughed. 

"Well-I uhh-"

"Don't worry Wil, it happens to the best of us" Allanon added with a subtle grin on his face while patting the younger man on the shoulder. Amberle's smile never faded as they joked for the next hour before they all went to bed. It was almost 2 am but she decided to unpack instead of falling asleep and dreaming of anything that she didn't want to even _think_ about. After unpacking (with her telekinesis mostly) and taking a shower she turned off the lights and lied down. She stared at the ceiling thinking of anything to take her mind off Lorin and the rest of the Chosen. She thought of Wil, Allanon, her uncle and even Eretria. She had barely gotten to know the girl but the few minutes they spent together weren't as bad as she kept trying to convince herself. Despite the fact that Eretria's intentions were not favorable, she _did_ try to comfort Amberle. Whether or not that was all a ruse, she would never know, but it helped her. It might not have been much, but it helped. 

 

* * *

 

 

She woke up at around 12 pm. On any other day she would have woken up a lot earlier and she would have started getting ready for the day ahead. But today, she had no plans, no events or duties to worry about, so she just washed up in the bathroom and walked into the kitchen without even bothering on changing out of her pajamas. The room was brightly lit from the light outside through the big windows. This floor had a large balcony outside so there was a large window with some sliding doors covering that side of the room. Allanon was going through a newspaper on the couch with a cup of coffee on the table next to him. 

"Good afternoon" he teased, not looking up from his newspaper. 

"It's only 12 o'clock" 

"Don't worry, he's just joking. Something he rarely does" Wil said as he walked in from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in his hand. "There's cereal in the cabinet next to the fridge if you want" He then sat down on the couch next to Allanon and turned on the tv. She walked into the kitchen for her own breakfast. She then joined Wil on the couch to watch tv. He was flipping through the channels but he stopped on a channel with cartoons. 

"Wil?" Allanon asked as he put down his paper.

"Yeah?" Wil was focused on what was happening on tv but he seemed to be paying _some_ attention to Allanon.

"I think we should look for some new leads today... Considering how much has developed since yesterday." Wil finally looked away from the engrossing show and looked to Allanon.

"Well, later today right?"

"I was thinking of an earlier start" Allanon said. Wil sighed.

"Okay, fine. We'll go right after I finish eating." Amberle looked at the two of them.

"Is this about that new enhanced gang?" She asked. They both looked at her.

"Yes"

"I want to help" she said abruptly before Allanon got the chance to continue his sentence.

"You could run operations here." Wil added. "Allanon does that sometimes when I'm out in the field"

"No. I want to help you out there"

"Are you sure? You've been through a lot-"

"I'm sure. It's what I trained to do" The two men looked at each other before answering. Wil shrugged and nodded. Allanon sighed.

"If that's what you truly want. But it's still dangerous out there for you so don't draw any unnecessary attention to yourself." After she finished eating, she rushed upstairs and changed into some black jeans, a dark purple shirt, boots and a black leather jacket which was more appropriate and intimidating for fighting crime than her pink pajama shorts and tank top. When she arrived back downstairs, Wil and Allanon were in their "briefing room" which was basically where they kept all their files. There was also a table in there with a few chairs and a large white board on the wall. They were looking through some files from a box on the desk. Amberle joined them, listening in on the briefing.

"Yesterday, some members of the enhanced gang were carrying weapons" Allanon started. "We know that they usually use their powers and the addition of firearms is new for them, so they're probably dealing with another gang."

"Rovers" Wil added.

"Most likely, but there's still a possibility that it could be the biker gang. It's probably how they get their information too, since they're a fairly new group." Allanon looked to Amberle since the information he was about to address was already known to Wil. "We have no information on anyone in this group. They're always masked, they're always careful and organized and they're all powered. Some are more powerful than others which is probably why some of them are armed with guns. We have no finger prints on them, no witnesses, no possible locations and we don't know who leads them. If they're dealing with rovers, we might have a lead." Amberle took in all this information and nodded.

"So where do we start?"

"Start with the bikers. Rovers will be a little harder to get through to." Allanon then turned around and opened a drawer on the cabinet behind him. "Here" he gave Amberle a small circular device. "It's a communicator. Just press this button whenever you speak into it." She took the comm from Allanon and put it in her ear.

"Okay, we're all good then" Wil said. "Let's go" He motioned towards the door.

"Be discreet! And be careful!" Allanon called behind them.

They walked downstairs and exited the building. Wil's bike was parked on the street in from of them. He tossed her one of the helmets he'd picked up from inside. They drove off into biker territory. Their main gathering spot was a bar called the Troll pub. There were bikes parked outside, confirming the bar as biker property. As soon as they walked in, most of the giant, angry-looking men stared at them as if they're presence offended them. 

"So which one of these _lovely_ men are we talking to?" Amberle whispered.

"I know a guy. He's not too bright but he's basically harmless compared to the rest of them."

Amberle looked around, examining the bar. The bartender was staring at her with an unreadable expression from behind the bar on her left. On her right, a bunch of men were gathered around pool tables, some of them playing, some just watching and they each had a bottle of beer in their hands. Some played darts but as Amberle followed Wil she noticed a few sitting in booths smoking and drinking. Wil then stopped walking and stood next to one of the booths.

"Hey Tiny" he waved at one of the men sitting in a both of four.

"What do _you_ want?" the man asked angrily in his deep voice.

"We're just here to talk." The man huffed and walked towards the exit. She and Wil followed him. 

" _How_ do you know him?" she asked. 

"He's enhanced so Allanon and I ran into him a couple of times. He also owes us a favor for helping his mom -who lives in the building next to use- get to the hospital when she broke her hip."

They met Tiny outside in the empty parking lot at the side of the bar.

"What do you want blondie?"

"The new enhanced gang. They've got weapons, which means they're dealing with someone."

"I don't know nothing" the man scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Come on Tiny. What would your mom think about you not helping us?" Tiny glared at Wil. Just then Amberle felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that Catania was calling her. She looked to Wil to let him know and he nodded mouthing that he "got this". She walked away from the two men and answered a phone.

"Catania?"

"Does the name Eretria mean anything to you?"

"What?!"

"She came by your house today looking for you. I was right across the street, leaving my house and she came up to me and asked me about you. She said the maid wasn't helpful when she went to your house and no one else was there so she'd thought she'd ask me. She said you met last night or something like that."

"What did you tell her?" 

"I just told her you temporarily moved out and that I didn't know where you were. Then she told me to tell _you_ that she wants to talk to you at some college party tonight downtown."

"How long ago was this?" Amberle sighed, feeling exasperated.

"A while ago. So how do you know her?" Catania asked teasingly.

"It's complicated, but she's bad news so try not to run into her again."

"If you say so." Amberle then looked to Wil who was done talking to Tiny and was walking over to her. "Catania, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah, talk to you soon. Good luck, doing whatever you're doing" Amberle hung up and looked up at Wil. 

"So what did he say?" she asked.

"Well, he doesn't know much but it's not the bikers dealing with the enhanced gang."

"So... rovers."

"Yeah. Damn it." He thought for a few seconds before using his comm to contact Allanon and tell him that the bikers were not their lead.

"Going into rover territory would be too dangerous. Wait until tonight, there might be another opportunity." Amberle could hear Allanon through her own comm.

"What about Eretria?" Amberle asked them both. Wil looked at her curiously. "A friend just called me and told me that Eretria was looking for me at my grandfather's house. It's  _probably_ because she wants something from us but she might have some information that we could use."

"I don't know. We both know she can't be trusted."

"But we'll be prepared this time. Wil, this might be the only lead we have"

"Allanon?" Wil asked. "What do you think?"

"Be cautious. Don't underestimate her. Until then, there's a robbery nearby that could need handling. I'll send you the address." Wil's phone buzzed and he looked down at the screen.

"Got it. We're on our way now." They both got on Wil's bike and put on their helmets. "You ready?" He looked back and asked her.

"Definitely."


	4. Chapter 4

It took them about five minutes to get to the store that was being robbed. They maneuvered and sped through traffic, and when they got there, the small store's glass window was smashed and a few people were gathered on around the street and sidewalks. Two men rushed out of the store, one had a a small black filter mask covering his mouth and the other had a bandana tied around his with the a design of the bottom of a skull on it. They both wore sunglasses and had their hoodies up, gloves on and the only exposed skin was on parts of their face, clearly keeping their identities hidden. 

Amberle took off her helmet and started walking towards them. She used her telekinesis and pushed the bag of money out of the thief's hands. One of the robbers seemed confused while the taller one saw her and walked over to a car parked on the side of the street right in front of him. He grabbed the bottom of the back bumper and lifted the car, tossing it at Amberle. She was in such a state of shock that she almost forgot to stop it from crushing her. She lifted her hands at the car coming down on her and stopped it mid air. It was heavy and she wasn't used to lifting heavier objects yet but she slowly set it down. Wil walked up next to her and blasted the taller thief with his blue energy blast. Amberle had never seen him use his ability up close but the blue light flowing off his arm was quite impressive. 

"I'll get the big one. The other guy is all yours." Wil said as the two men started walking towards them. The larger one was throwing whatever he could find at Wil, including a fire hydrant.

The other one took off his gloves and revealed his long fingers with claws instead of finger nails. He then lowered his mask and revealed his long and sharp teeth. Amberle thought she heard him growl as he rushed towards her and launched himself at her claws first. She ran back to get out of the way and stepped back each time he slashed at her. She brought up her hand trying to stop him but his motions were to fast for her to concentrate on, so she lifted his entire body. He hovered a few feet above the ground in front of her, trying to reach for her with his claws. He kept moving and wriggling that it was becoming harder to hold him back. She heard Wil scream to her left and as soon as she looked she saw him mid air being flung into her. She didn't have time react before they were both on the ground and she dropped her enemy. The larger thief walked over to them, lifting his arms to crush them but his movements were slow enough for Amberle to stop. She couldn't lift him off the ground like she did with the other thief but she was able to keep him in frozen place. Wil blasted the other one but as soon as he hit the ground near the sidewalk he jumped up and grabbed a man from the crowd near him. He used the man as a shield brought his claws to his throat.

"Let him go!" Amberle heard him say with a raspy voice. "Or I kill him." he warned. Wil looked to Amberle who was in a stiff state, struggling to keep the man from escaping. 

"Amberle..." He nodded, signifying that they should listen to the thief. Amberle let him go and let out a sigh of relief from the pressure of keeping the man in place had put on her body. The larger man grabbed the bag of money he had dropped earlier and joined his partner at the other side of the street. Sirens sounded in the distance and the two thieves looked to each other. The larger on nodded and walked to the van they had probably arrived in earlier. It had no license plates so finding an owner wouldn't be easy. He started the van and drove next to his partner who was still holding the hostage.

"It's been fun." He grinned. "Don't worry though. Next time we see you two, we'll kill you" he then dug his claws into the man's throat. With one motion from the thief, the hostage's throat started bleeding as he fell to the ground. The thief got into the van and they drove off.

"No!" Amberle screamed as she rushed to the man's side. The man was choking on his blood and had his hands covering his wounds. He looked up at Amberle with wide eyes trying to say something but ultimately couldn't. "You're going to be okay" she said as she reached for his wound and tried to convince him to let her put pressure on it. The man gagged a few more times before he stopped breathing all together. Wil was trying to keep the rest of the civilians back and to calm them all down. Amberle let out a shuddering sob as the man in front of her died. Her hands covered in his blood and his lifeless eyes staring at the sky.

She felt two hands on her shoulders pull her up. She looked back and saw her Uncle Ander guiding her away from the body as two paramedics rushed to it. She didn't even hear the whole group of cop cars and the ambulance when they arrived. Her uncle took her to his own car and had her sit on the hood. He brought her a blanket and covered her shoulders, realizing that she was in shock. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion in front of her. The police were getting the civilians away from the scene and that part of the street was surrounded by police tape. The paramedics had the body put in a body bag and lifted it into the back of the ambulance. An officer was questioning Wil and her uncle brought her a bottle of water to wash the blood off her hands. She got as much as she could off of her but there was still a slight red taint that would need more scrubbing to get off. Wil was done being questioned and he walked up to Amberle and joined her on the hood of the car. Her uncle Arion suddenly walked towards them. He looked furious.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked Amberle, trying to contain his anger.

"We were trying to help" she said without looking up from the ground she was so focused on.

"You shouldn't be out in public, it's too dangerous for you with these freaks running around."

"Freaks?" Wil asked, offended. Arion ignored him.

"Arion that's enough" Ander interrupted putting his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"No it's not. What was father thinking? Thinking that Allanon would be able to run his own little group of crime fighters outside the police. Look at this mess" he said gesturing to the street. "And now he has _you_ working for him too?" he pointed at Amberle.

"I offered to help. I'm not just gonna sit by and let these criminals go around killing people" she said furiously, finally looking up at her uncle. "These are threats that the regular police can't handle. We're using our abilities to help and all you do is tell us we're not doing a good enough job" Amberle let the blanket slide off her shoulders and stood up "Let's go Wil." Wil then followed Amberle to his bike.

"Are you okay?" he asked worried.

"I'm fine. I just need to get out of here." She put on her helmet and waited for Wil to get on the bike. He sighed and nodded and put on his own helmet before getting on he bike and driving away.

* * *

 

A shower and a nap were exactly what Amberle needed. After she woke up she walked downstairs to get something to eat. She made herself a sandwich and watched some tv. After a while Allanon walked in. He had gone to city hall to help her grandfather deal with the media and reporters after everything that happened. It could have been a massive PR problem for them but fortunately her grandfather was experienced with handling stuff like this.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Crisis evaded. I apologize for how tough your first mission ended up being."

"It's just made me more motivated to get these guys. They won't even hesitate to hurt civilians." she sighed.

"At least we have a lead now" he said as he walked into the kitchen. Amberle suddenly remembered that she was meeting up with Eretria for possible information tonight.

"I almost forgot." She got up and followed Allanon into the kitchen. "I'm supposed to meet Eretria tonight at some party downtown. Any idea where that could be?" 

"I think _I_ know where that'll be." She heard Wil say as he defended the stairs. "I asked a few people from school for any parties tonight and there's one at _this_ address-" he showed Amberle the address on his phone "-that'll have alcohol and "a little something else" apparently. That means rovers will be there selling. I'm guessing that's where she'll be. The college students should start gathering there within the next hour and rovers a while after that."

"Then we get there as soon as possible" Amberle said before rushing up to her room to change.

They left forty minutes later and as they got closer to the house, the more people they saw in the street walking in that direction. When they finally got there, they noticed a bunch of students outside, some with drinks in their hands, some just talking and then there was the loud music coming from the small brightly lit house. Wil parked his bike a bit further down because he "did not trust any of theses drunk college kids to be near it" and they walked to the entrance.

"I really hope I don't see anyone I know. Most med-students are pretentious assholes."

"Like you?" She joked.

"Ha-ha very funny. I mean, yeah some of them are cool but the people I had to ask about this party aren't the friendliest ones." There were two tall blonde guys standing in front of the entrance. One of them looked Amberle up and down and winked at her. She forgot that this was a fraternity house party and that she would have to deal with frat boys all night.

"Five bucks for guys, girls get in for free." one of them said looking at Wil. Wil sighed and pulled out his wallet and gave him five dollars. "Okay we're good" he said cheerfully. "Hopefully I'll be seeing _you_ around later tonight sweetie" he said grinning at Amberle. She scoffed and shrug him off as they walked inside. There were people everywhere. Most of them drunk so that made it harder to move around each room. The kitchen had a few girls and guys playing beer pong, the living room had people either passed out on couches or making out and there were people everywhere either dancing or standing around with their friends trying to talk over the loud music. Amberle and Wil looked around to see if they could spot Eretira anywhere. 

"What if she's not here?" She asked Wil.

"Then we find another rover to question" he said as he pointed at someone behind her. She turned around and saw a short boy around their age with a backpack and he looked like he was selling something to one of the frat boys. Wil waved at him and motioned to him to come over. 

"What would you like?" he asked rubbing his hands together as soon as he got there.

"Let's talk outside." Wil said before he grabbed the boy by the shoulder and pushed him to the back of the house where there was a door to the backyard porch. 

"Whoa, bro what's going on? You're not cops are you?" The boy asked looking at them worried.

"No we just have a few questions" Wil replied. The boy kept staring at them curiously.

"Are you _sure_ you're not cops?"

"The new enhanced gang, they're getting weapons from the rovers. We need info on them." Wil added.

"That's above my pay grade man. I just sell whatever they tell me to sell. I don't ask any questions." Wil grabbed the boy's collar roughly.

"You see my friend here?" he said pointing at Amberle. The rover looked at her. "She's had a rough couple of days, so if you don't tell us what we wanna know, I'm gonna let her release all her anger and frustrations on you. And trust me, it won't be pretty." The rover gulped.

"Look man, I swear I don't know anything. I'm here with someone else. Ask her!" The rover fixed his jacket which Wil had roughed up during his threat. "She's inside" he said before walking back inside to the party.

"You think it's Eretria?" Wil asked.

"Probably. 'I'm gonna let her release all her anger and frustrations on you' though? Really? What kind of threat was that?" she teased.

"Best one I could come up with at the time." he said before they walked inside and split up to find Eretria. 

Amberle walked towards the living room. She spotted a few dark haired girls but none of them were Eretria. She finally spotted her in a corner, her arm resting on a wall next to a blonde girl she was leaning over. She had a smirk on her face as she chatted with the blushing girl and moved a strand of the girl's hair behind her ear. When she saw Amberle walking towards her, her smirk disappeared and she started walking towards the back door. Amberle followed her outside and closed the door behind her.

"I didn't think you'd make it" Amberle turned to her left and saw Eretria sitting on the porch fence. "You're timing sucked but, whatever."

"Oh I'm sorry I interrupted your latest theft." she said sarcastically.

"Who said I was robbing her?" she grinned. "I was just being... friendly"

"Oh you were-" Amberle realized what she had actually seen inside. "I didn't- uhm... Sorry?" she babbled.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I could find someone else to have fun with before the night is over" she walked over to Amberle, the smirk never leaving her face. 

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Amberle said as she avoided eye contact with the seemingly eager rover who walked up into her personal space. 

"I just thought we'd gotten off on the wrong foot yesterday. I thought I could... make it up to you somehow" Eretria's eyes were now focused on Amberle's lips. 

"If you're just trying to trick me again for my wallet, I'd like to jump ahead and ask you a few questions" she walked back, leaning against the fence.

"Questions for _me_ huh? Go ahead." she said nonchalantly. She didn't seem as interested in Amberle's questions as she was with her eyes or lips which her gaze kept shifting to. Amberle coughed, trying to gain her attention.

"Well, I've recently been informed that you know something about the rovers dealing with the new enhanced gang" Eretria stepped back and her gaze abruptly shifted from flirtatious to irritated.

"And how would you know that?" she wasn't denying it, so Amberle imagined she _did_ have the information they needed.

"You're little rover friend inside-"

"That idiot! Sorry, can't help you princess" Eretria started to walk away when Amberle caught her arm.

"Eretria please! If you truly want to make it up to me, you'll just answer some questions for me. Please. I know you're better than this" Eretria looked up at the girl, seemingly conflicted.

Suddenly the door burst open and Wil walked through.

"You found her!" he walked over to the two of them.

"Great there's two of you now" Eretria said as she pulled out her phone from her pocket. "This is _so_ not how this was all supposed to go down" she mumbled as she typed something on her phone. "You two want answers? Follow me" she walked back inside and the two of them followed her as she maneuvered her way through the crowd of mostly drunk people. The blonde girl from earlier even came up to Eretria and told her something that Amberle couldn't here. Eretria gave her a sympathetic look as she held the girl's hands and responded to her. The girl then looked up at Amberle and stormed off. They finally made it out the front door. One of the frat boys from earlier stopped Eretria by grabbing her arm.

"Where are _you_ going? You said you'd be here until 3am" he looked angry. Eretria pulled her arms out of his grasp.

"Something came up. Don't worry, I've got a couple of guys inside selling until then" she started to walk away again but he grabbed her arm again. She looked down at his hand and back up at him, her expression was livid.

"Come on, I thought you'd stick around a little longer babe. We barely got to know each other." Before Amberle could even blink, Eretria twisted the frat boy's arm and he fell to his knees with a scream of pain.

"First of all, I am strictly here for business. Second, don't ever assume that you can call me 'babe', and third, don't _ever_ touch me again or I'll do a lot worse than twist your arm" she let go of the boy's arm, turned around and started walking to the other side of the street. "Let's go" she motioned for Amberle and Wil to follow her. They were both shocked and impressed and they followed the rover.

"Where are we going?" Amberle asked when they got to the sidewalk. Eretria stopped right under the light from one of the lampposts.

"Sorry about this" she said as a dark van pulled up behind them. Three men came out and grabbed them. They handcuffed their arms behind their backs tightly so they couldn't use their powers. Then they put a cold metal collar on their necks which vibrated and beeped as soon as it closed around their necks. Amberle felt a wave of dizziness hit her for a few seconds before she felt the men pull her and Wil into the van. Eretria got into the front seat and the van drove off as soon as the door shut.

"Was this all just a crazy scheme for you to kidnap me!?" she asked the rover girl angrily. Eretria didn't seem too pleased with herself and she ignored the girl. The men in the back of the van with her and Wil were holding guns aimed at the two of them. As if there was anything they could do _now_. After a short and silent drive the van stopped. One of the men slid the door open and the other two, grabbed her and Wil by the arms and pushed them out of the van. Amberle recognized the street they were on. The park where she met Eretria was only a few blocks down. They were in rover territory. The house in front of them was brightly lit and it looked like there was another party going on in it. Eretria walked inside as them three men guarded them on the sidewalk. She looked to Wil who looked equally as worried as her. A couple of minutes later, Eretria walked out of the house with a tall man with a short beard. He ruffled the top of Eretria's head as soon as he saw the two of them which she shook off with irritated expression.

"Let's get em both into the house" The house they were being taken to was across the street from the party house the man was just at. The neighborhood was quiet and most of the houses seemed abandoned. Some even had boarded up windows. This house was smaller than the other one and it was also a one floor house. When they went inside, Amberle noticed that there wasn't any furniture anywhere except one old couch in one of the rooms, a few sleeping bags on the floor and an empty fridge that wasn't even plugged in and a table with two chairs around it. One of the rooms had a part of it that was covered in plastic as if it were being protected from any paint. Amberle took a guess that it wasn't there to prevent paint stains but it's where the rovers cut off their "loose ends". They were pushed to the floor on their knees. The man stood over them with a grin on his face. Amberle looked to Eretria who was standing behind him, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as she avoided looking at the two of them on the ground.

"What do you want?" Wil asked the man defiantly. The man chuckled.

"I've got what I want right in front of me. It's what I'm gonna do with the two of you which should worry you. I haven't decided yet but both options would be bad. For you two." he started slowly pacing. "Now the mayor's granddaughter" he looked to Amberle. "Should I keep you around for a while and then make your grandfather pay a ransom or should I just sell you and pretty boy over here to the enhanced freaks?"

"Why would they want to buy us?" Amberle asked.

"Oh you don't know? They're planning on killing every enhanced being that isn't part of their little gang. I don't know why, but I _do_ know they'd pay good money for you two. How much would your grandfather pay? I'm trying compare prices, see which one would be a better deal"

"You're scum" Wil spat. The man slapped him across the face.

"Did I tell you that you were allowed to talk boy?" he pointed at Wil. "Now _you_ sweetheart" he turned to Amberle. "I'd recommend you don't do anything to piss me off. It'd be a shame to damage a pretty face like yours. It might even lower your price, and we wouldn't want that now would we?" he pushed a strand of Amberle's hair that was in her face behind her ear. She pulled back disgusted.

"Cephelo" Eretria called from behind the man. The rover-Cephelo-looked back at the girl.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"No need to hurt them. You said it yourself. We don't want any buyers lowering the price"

"Did I ask for your advice?" he yelled. Eretria lowered her head and leaned back against the wall. Cephelo looked back at Amberle and Wil. "I apologize for my daughter's behavior. She's a rude one." Amberle furrowed her brows, looking at Eretria after this revelation to see that the girl was still not looking at her. Cephelo looked to his men and Eretria. "Lock them up at my place. I want a guard outside the door at all times. We'll sell them both tomorrow." he said as he left the house.

The guards and Eretria took them back to the other house where Cephelo returned to his party. There were rovers everywhere. Wil was taken wooden shed in the backyard of the larger house. The guards pushed him in and locked the doors. Cephelo told the other guard to take Amberle upstairs and lock her in one of the bedrooms. As soon as he pushed her into the room he locked the door from outside, and she had nowhere to go. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to change the rating because things get a little interesting in this chapter. Enjoy!

Amberle frantically looked around the room for some sort of exit. There was a window in the bedroom and a smaller one in the bathroom but she was on the second floor of the house, so it would be a pretty high jump, and her hands were still handcuffed behind her back. She lied down on the bed and brought her handcuffed arms under her legs so she could have her hands up front. She then proceeded to look through drawers and cabinets to see if she could find anything to use as a makeshift weapon. Unfortunately for her, it didn't seem like anyone was permanently staying in this room so there wasn't much she could find. She then heard voices from outside the door. Someone was probably about to walk in so she unplugged a lamp on the nightstand next to the bed, pulled off it's lamp shade and raised it upside down above her head, ready to strike whoever came through as she hid in the bathroom. As she expected, the door opened, someone walked in and then it closed again. She heard some footsteps and then a plop on the bed. 

"If you're planning on attacking me with a lamp, I really don't think it's gonna work" she heard the familiar voice say. Amberle exited the bathroom to see Eretria sitting on the bed staring at her.

"You'd deserve it" she said in a malicious tone as she set the lamp down.

"True" the girl said, lowering her gaze as if she were ashamed. "I had no choice. It was either get the two of you to Cephelo or-" she cut herself off.

"Or what? I thought he was your father" Amberle asked looking down at the girl string on the bed. Eretria scoffed.

"He's no father to me. He took me in thinking I'd be another one of his soldiers or just another slave for him. He never treated me like a daughter."

"Then why are you still working for him?" Amberle asked calmly.

"I have no choice. I either do what he says or he cuts me off from the gang I take my chances in the streets alone with angry rovers seeing me as either a traitor or threat and neither one is good. I'd have watch my back. Plus, I owe him money. But once I pay his debt, I'm free. I was desperate and you and Wil seemed like a big payoff. I'm sorry for how this all ended up but I need you to understand, I had no choice."

"I do understand" she sighed. But that doesn't really help my current situation, does it? You're better than these people Eretria. Please... Just help us get out of this. If you do, I'll pay you double of what you owe Cephelo." The girl stayed silent for a while. She then stood up and walked over to Amberle and pulled something small out of her pocket. She reached for Amberle's hands and unlocked her handcuffs. "Thank you." she said sincerely. "Now if you could just get this collar off" she reached up for the collar and started pulling at it. 

"Hold on there princess" Eretria said as her she softly grabbed Amberle's hands and pulled them away from the collar. "That thing will send out an electric shock if you try to pull it off without a key" She then pulled out another small key, slightly different from the last one and stuck it into one of the small holes in the collar. She twisted a few times until the collar finally clicked open and Amberle pulled it off.

"Thanks" Amberle said as she rubbed at her neck where the collar was. "Where did Cephelo even get this kind of technology?"

"Oh you know, from the police, the government etcetera" Amberle gave looked at her shocked. "He's got people everywhere and for the right price he can get anything he wants. These power inhibitor collars are from a private tech company working with the government. They're still testing them out so the police doesn't even have anything like this yet."   

"Thank you again by the way. For what you're doing. I know how much you're risking for me"

"I'm doing it for the money princess. You promised double of what Cephelo wants" she reminded her. "Besides, I didn't want you to be another one of the girls he hurt in one of these bedrooms. No one deserves that." Eretria made her way to the door and knocked a few times to signal the guard to unlock it. When he did she grabbed him and locker her arms around his head and pulled him to the ground until he passed out. "Follow me" Amberle nodded and followed the rover into another bedroom. She opened the window and started to climb out. Amberle stared at her curiously as if she were crazy enough to jump from that height. Eretria scoffed "Don't be scared princess. There's vines all over this wall that you can climb down. You won't break any nails." Amberle glared at her and then followed her out the window and down the vines. They were in the backyard which was empty since everyone was inside. They made their way to the shed in the back of the yard where Wil was being held. The door was on the right side of the shed so the guard wasn't facing the two of them. Suddenly they heard a few cars screech to a stop at the front of the house and the a few gunshots were fired. The rovers inside started screaming before shots from inside could also be heard. Someone was attacking the rovers and they started a shoot off. People started running out of the house through the back and front while some rovers were firing back at the attackers. They could see parts of the shootout from the side of the house. One of the attackers shot fire from his palms at the rovers.

"The enhanced! They're looking for us" Amberle said worriedly. The guard who was outside the shed ran into the action, giving the girls the opportunity to free Wil.

"Amberle!" he said cheerfully. He then looked to Eretria "Eretria? What's going on?" he said as Eretria got down on her knee and started unlocking the boy's handcuffs and his inhibitor collar.

"Eretria has decided to help us, so less questions, more running." She said as the three of them made their way out of the shed. A few rovers and a few members of the enhanced gang saw them and while some fought each other, the others started chasing the three of them.

"This way!" Eretria said as she started making her way to the back of the yard, behind the shed where the tall fence surrounding the property was. She lifted one of the wooden planks which looked like it had been loosened before and she held it up as the three of them dashed under it and through a small alleyway between the houses. They made their way on to the street and started running as the rovers and the enhanced gang members chased them and shot at them. "Here!" Eretria led them into an alley between two tall buildings. She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through it before handing it to Amberle. "That address is one of my safe houses. It's a few blocks from here. I'll meet you there."

"What?" Amberle responded. "We're not leaving you here alone and defenseless!"

"I'm not defenseless" she said as she pulled out a handgun from the back of the waistband of her pants. "The enhanced are looking for you two, I just have to hold them off until you two get away and then I'll deal with the rovers who now consider me a traitor and want me dead" she smirked as she tried to cover up her own panic.

"Eretria-" Amberle tried to protest.

"I don't have time to argue princess, just go!" she said as she started shooting at their attackers. They ducked behind parked cars in the street. "Go down this alley and get to that address. Here's the key" she said as she tossed it to Amberle, her eyes still focused on the street. Amberle furrowed her brows, conflicted and not wanting to leave the rover who had just saved her moments ago. "Go!" Eretria yelled again. Wil pulled Amberle's arm softly, giving her a pleading gaze, urging them to leave. She reluctantly followed the boy, looking back every few steps to make sure Eretria was still okay until she was out of sight. She could still hear the shots being fired in the distance as they ran. Her heart pounded in her chest and the only thing that kept her from stopping to rest was the adrenaline and the fear of what would happen if they were found. The streets were empty and they grew quieter, the farther away they got from the shootout. Amberle looked down at the gps map on Eretria's smartphone, realizing that they had reached their destination.

"It's here!" she called at Wil who was ahead of her. The boy turned around and met her at the doorway. Amber's hands were shaking as she fumbled with the keys to get the door unlocked. When she finally did, they rushed in and shut the door behind them. They were in a small hallway with a few mailboxes on the wall on their left, a door ahead of them with the number "1a" on it and a staircase next to it. Amberle looked back at the phone. The address listed said "room 2b". "It's upstairs" she proceeded to walk up the stairs with Wil behind her. The stairs led a small hallway with room 2a, so they went up the next flight of stairs to its left until they reached the small hallway which held room 2b. Amberle unlocked the door with ease this time, feeling safer indoors.

The room they entered was only slightly bigger than her bedroom with two additional doorways. The curtains were shut and the lights were off but some light shone in through the thin curtains from the street lights or the moonlight, she couldn't tell which. There was a fridge to their left with some kitchen counters, some cupboards and cabinets and a sink. The rest of the room included an old long couch and a smaller armchair right next to it and a low table in front of them. Amberle hadn't realized that she was still panting from exhaustion from all the running. Wil made sure the door was locked before he made his way over to the long couch and lied down. Amberle checked the two doors in the room. One led to a bedroom which had its own bathroom and a large bed.

The other door was another bathroom. Amberle went inside, turned on the tap and let the water run. She washed her hands and then poured water on her face. She looked at herself in the mirror, her hair was messed up and she looked exhausted and she felt exhausted too, with the addition of pain everywhere as if she had just rolled down a hill. She noticed a tear on her jacket right under her right shoulder. She pulled it off, with difficulty and realized that the pain in her right shoulder was a cut, probably from a bullet when the two gangs were shooting at them during the pursuit. She stared at it for a while and then started wiping it with some paper towels she found in the cupboard under the sink. It was still bleeding and it stung so she wet one of the paper towels and started to softly wipe it. A few minutes had gone by and she hadn't done much difference, but she stopped abruptly when there was a loud knock on the apartment door. She walked out of the bathroom to see Wil, equally as cautious as he walked over to the door as silently as he could. It could be Eretria but it also could be _anyone_ else. Wil waited by the door before opening it. Fortunately for them, the person who had rushed into the room was Eretria, who was panting, with her gun still in her hand as she bent over and rested her hands on her knees.

"Why'd you guys let me in just like that? What if it wasn't me? What would you do?" She said between pants. "Useless..." she mumbled.

"Yeah, it's great to see you too Eretria" Wil said in a deadpan voice. The girl was sweaty and looked pale and exhausted. She then rushed over to the windows and pulled back the corner of the curtains just a little, as she looked down at the street.

"You weren't followed right?" she asked them.

"No" Amberle quickly answered.

"Not that we know of" Wil added.

"I guess that's good enough" the girl then dropped her gun on the table and plopped down on the couch. "Oh man I am _so_ screwed" she said as she brought her hands up to her face. "Cephelo's pissed and he's probably gonna put a bounty on my head, the rovers all want to kill me and now because of _you_ two, I've got to deal with the enhanced too" she mutters to herself, but Amberle noticed it was loud enough for both her and Wil to hear. "At least I'm getting paid" she added with a sigh.

"Well, we're grateful for your help" Amberle said quickly. Eretria didn't answer but she glared at Amberle before she stood up. She walked over to the fridge and grabbed a few bottles of water. She tossed two to Wil and Amberle before taking a long swig from her own.

"We'll have to stay here for the night. It's no use going out at night when they're all looking for us" Amberle looked to Wil unsure but he just shrugged. She didn't know how Allanon would react to this decision but if Wil thought it was okay, then it probably wouldn't be a big deal.

"I guess I'll take the couch" Wil said before lying down on the large sofa.

"I'll get a blanket" Eretria said before she picked up her handgun and made her way into the bedroom. She came back out with a folded blanket which she handed to Wil. She looked to Amberle and noticed her injured shoulder. "I'll get you some fresh clothes. And I need to take a look at that" she said pointing at the wound on the side of Amberle's shoulder. She followed Eretria into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. The rover looked through some drawers of a drawer cabinet and set the clothes she found on the bed. She then walked into the bathroom, beckoning her head for Amberle to follow her.

Amberle sat on the closed toilet seat while Eretria inspected a first-aid kit she had in the cabinet over the sink. She pulled out some bandages, dressings and a needle. Amberle gulped at the sight of it, hoping she wouldn't need to get stitched up. Eretria noticed her reaction and snickered.

"You never got stitches before?" she teased.

"No actually, I haven't" Amberle tensed as Eretria brought her hands on to her shoulder to inspect the wound.

"Well, you're in luck. It doesn't look like you'll need any. It's just a graze." Eretria then proceeded to wet a small towel and slowly wipe the wound. Amberle didn't think she'd ever seen Eretria be this tender with anything or anyone, not with _her_ especially. 

"I know I've already said this but... Thank you for all you've done for me. Really."

"I'm just trying to get paid princess, no need to get all sentimental on me." Amberle stared at the girl unconvinced.

"Really? You seem to be risking a lot for a simple payday." she smirked. Eretria didn't answer as she continued to clean Amberle's wound. "What are you planning on doing after all this? After you get paid and everything." 

"Well, if Cephelo doesn't kill me after all this, I'll pay him what I owe him, get him off my back and then I guess I'll just leave"

"Where would you go?"

"Anywhere. I could finally live on my own, make my own choices, meet new people that aren't criminals." she chuckled. 

"I'm sorry for all that you've been through" Amberle said sincerely, her eyes not leaving the rover's.

"What are you sorry about? It's not like any of it was _your_ fault"

"No I meant-"

"I know what you meant princess. I was joking. You know what that _is_ right?" Eretria teased. She grabbed the dressings from behind her on the sink and stuck one on Amberle's wound.

"Of course I-"

"Has anyone ever told you that your cheeks get all red whenever you get flustered?"

"I'm not flus- Well if you would just stop antagonizing me all the time-"

"Antagonizing? Is this really considered antagonizing to rich people?" Eretria sneered as she finally looked up at Amberle who was fuming. 

"You're enjoying this aren't you? Getting on my nerves."

'What gave it away?" 

"You're infuriating!" Amberle stood up, glaring at the rover.

"And you're a self-centered, spoiled rich girl who thinks she's better than everyone else!" Eretria stood up, not letting Amberle stare her down and glared right back at her.

"At least I care about other people, unlike you!"

"Keep telling yourself that"

"You- You-" her eyes moved from Eretria's eyes to her lips and back.

"What about me princess? Spit it out!"

"Insufferable- Rover-" The next thing Amberle knew her lips were brought to Eretria's. She didn't know what had gotten into her but Eretria was obviously having the same thoughts as she pushed Amberle against the wall and kissed her back. She wrapped her arms around the other girl's neck. She felt Eretria's hands on her hips, as one of them slid down and lifted her leg, pulling their bodies closer. She kissed her back aggressively, pushing back for dominance. She brought her hands to the front of Eretria's jacket, pushing it off over her shoulder. Amberle felt Eretria's hands leave her body momentarily as she let her jacket slide to the floor, before she brought them back on to Amberle's hips and sliding them under her shirt, sending shivers across the girl's belly. Amberle let out a small moan.

" _Who's_ insufferable?" Eretria teased between kisses. Amberle could basically feel the smirk on the other girl's face.

"Still you. Just slightly less now" Eretria let out a small laugh in response.

" _Slightly_? We'll see about that" she grinned and lifted Amberle's legs, now standing between them as she held her up against the wall, as she continued to grind up against her. Amberle didn't know how, but the smaller girl was able to lift her up and carry her to the bed in the other room. They fell on to the bed, Amberle wrapped her legs around Eretria's waist and her hands on her cheeks as she pulled her closer. Eretria's hand slid down Amberle's side and down her leg before she sat up and took off her shirt. She went back to kissing Amberle, her hand wandering to the button on her pants. Amberle lifted her own shirt off and helped Eretria lower her black jeans. The rover unhooked Amberle's bra and kneaded her breast before sliding her hand back down to the top of Amberle's underwear, teasing her before Amberle used her own hand to push the other girl's hand lower. She let out a low moan when Eretria finally slipped her hand under her underwear and her fingers inside of her.

 

* * *

 

When Amberle woke up that morning, her arm was wrapped around Eretria and Eretria's arm was under Amberle's shoulders as they lied down under the sheets together. The rover was still asleep, she looked peaceful so Amberle tried not to wake her as she got up and walked to the bathroom. 

She looked in the mirror, her hair even messier than it was last night - after being kidnapped and all that - and she had a small red bite mark on her neck. She smiled, reminiscing the events of the night. She and Eretria took that hatred they thought they had for each other and turned it into something more... pleasurable. Amberle looked in the bedroom closet and found a towel that she could use after a shower. The shower was bigger than she expected. It could probably fit three people. She rested the towel on the sink as she turned the shower knob to "hot". She let the water run until it got warm and got in the shower when it finally did after a minute or two. She started lathering her hair with the shampoo she found in there when she heard the bathroom door open.

"Any room in there for one more?" she heard Eretria say from outside the shower.  Amberle smiled as started to rinse the shampoo out of her hair.

"Definitely" the shower curtain then slid open to a grinning Eretria, who stepped into the shower behind Amberle. Amberle turned around to face her and she brought her hands up to Eretria's cheeks, pulling her close before kissing her. It was slower and softer than any kiss from last night. She felt Eretria's tongue seeking entrance into her own mouth. She let her lips part, accepting it as she used her own tongue to push back against it. She ran her fingers through the rover's hair, feeling at peace in this moment which was surprising since just yesterday, she thought she hated Eretria.

Eretria then pulled back, rubbing her eyes. "You missed some shampoo there princess" she said pointing at Amberle's forehead which had shampoo running down it which had probably splashed into the other girl's eyes from the water being sprayed on them from the shower-head.

"Well it's not _my_ fault you distracted me mid-rinse" she teased with a grin on her face as she started washing the shampoo out of her hair.

"And it's not _my_ fault that you're distracted so easily" she grinned. "I mean, all _I_ did was get in the shower" Amberle laughed and shook her head at the other girl. 

"Very funny" she said before she hugged the rover. Amberle rested her head on Eretria's shoulder and let her hands run down her back, tracing the scars she had first seen last night but didn't mention. She started thinking about where they could have originated or how much they hurt. 

"They come with the rover life" Eretria said as if she had read the other girl's thoughts. "Some are from Cephelo, some from knife fights or shootouts... It's part of the territory." Amberle traced a round scar on the back of Eretria's right shoulder.

"Is this one a bullet wound?"

"Yeah, someone else had to sew it up for me, so that's why it looks more unappealing than the other ones" Amberle smiled tenderly at her.

"How'd it happen"

"Deal gone wrong. The other gang didn't have the intention of paying for the weapons we were selling so they started shooting at us during the meet-up. I was getting stuff out of the car when one of them got me in the shoulder. There were more of them but they weren't as skilled as us, so we won _that_ battle."

"Did it hurt?"

"Like hell. Getting it out was the harder part though" Amberle grimaced, feeling bad for the girl.

"I'm sorry" Amberle said sympathetically as she rubbed the other girl's shoulder and Eretria nodded. "What about the tattoo?" she asked. Eretria turned around, looking at the small tattoo on the back of her left shoulder. 

"I used to think it was a birthmark but I don't know how I got it. I never knew my parents so maybe it meant something to them, maybe not. I don't even know if they're alive out there or dead." she sighed.

"I lost my parents too. My mother died when I was really young and my father died a couple of years ago" she lowered her gaze, trying not to think about her grief. "I guess that makes us both orphans"

Amberle felt Eretria's hand cup her chin and tilt her head up to look her in the eyes. She smiled at her tenderly, and kissed her. "At least we have _something_ in common then." she joked. Amberle laughed, as the other girl tried to lift her spirits. Eretria kissed Amberle one more time before she got out of the shower and wrapped herself with a towel she had brought in earlier.

"Aren't you gonna-"

"Don't worry, I didn't come in here with the intention of taking a shower" she smiled flirtatiously before leaving the bathroom. Amberle snickered before finishing up her shower. She got out and wrapped her hair in a smaller towel and her body in another one.

She walked out of the bathroom to find Eretria fully dressed, putting on her boots as she sat on the bed. Amberle picked her clothes up from the floor and started to get dressed.

"What's the plan for today?" she asked the rover who had lied back on the bed, her feet still hanging off the bed.

"We get you two to a safer part of town. Wherever you're staying or back to your huge mansion-"

"I'm not currently living at the mansion. I'm staying with Wil and Allanon at their headquarters"

" _Headquarters? Really?_ That's so cheesy." she laughed.

"It's where they run their operations"

"Who's _Allanon_ anyway?"

"He used to work in city hall for my grandfather. He represented enhanced people since he _is_ enhance and since he's such an expert on all this stuff. Now he and Wil run their own operation of handling enhanced criminal issues."

"And the police are okay with that?"

"Not most of them. My uncle hates it but my grandfather fully supports Allanon so they can't do anything to stop it"

"Well okay then. We'll get you two back to Allanon, I get paid and you all continue your operations and all that stuff."

"Where are _you_ gonna stay? The rovers are looking for you. It's not safe-"

"Don't worry princess I can handle myself."

"I know you can but... We can help you. You're risking your life to help us, so I don't think Allanon would have a problem with you staying with us for a while. You could work with us too!" Amberle said in a cheery manner.

"I'm not exactly like you guys. I'm not enhanced and I'm a rover. I wouldn't be much help."

"Well-" a knock on the door interrupted Amberle.

"You guys are awake right?" Wil asked through the door.

"Yeah, we'll be right out Wil" Amberle responded. She looked back to Eretria. "Think about it okay?"

The girl sighed and nodded. They both walked out of the bedroom to find Wil looking through the fridge.

"Is there no food in here at all?" He asked while not turning around.

"Nope. We'll get something for you on the way" Eretria teased. Wil turned around and looked at the two girls. 

"So you don't hate each other anymore?" he asked motioning his finger at the two of them.

"What do you mean?" Amberle asked confused.

"Well I mean- You uhh- Sounded pretty... friendly last night." he said awkwardly. Amberle's eyes widened as she blushed furiously while Eretria just smirked.

"How do you-uh-" Amberle tried but failed to form a sentence out of sheer embarrassment.

"How do i know? These walls are pretty thin. I was asleep through most of it though. I think." Amberle, who was still blushing didn't know how to respond so she just looked to Eretria who was still smirking. The rover looked at her and shrugged nonchalantly.

"That's cool though. Don't worry about. I'm glad you two are getting along." There was a pause of awkward silence. "We should go right?" he asked as he walked to the front door, stumbling and almost tripping. The two girls followed him as they made their way down the stairs and exited the building.


	6. Chapter 6

Unfortunately for Amberle, when Eretria said she could get them a ride back to their headquarters, she wasn't expecting her to break into and hot-wire someone else's car. She tried to argue against it, but Eretria's defense - the fact that the Rovers and the Enhanced were looking for them and they'd definitely be spotted if they went by foot - won the argument. She just hoped they wouldn't get pulled over by a cop because explaining why the mayor's granddaughter was in a stolen car with a rover driving, would be hard. As they drove around this part of town which was now considered Rover territory, Amberle realized how bad this are had become. Damaged buildings, closed off buildings, people living on the streets with their children or even children living alone on these streets. She never wanted to admit it, but as she and her family and the rest of Arborlon's wealthy citizens were living comfortably with no worries in the upper its area, there were people that needed help and people that they chose to ignore. And for what? So they wouldn't feel guilty for living off of those hard workers who couldn't afford a good meal for their families? For people like Eretria to be abandoned by their families and forced to live as criminals?

She looked behind her to see Wil staring out the window in the backseat. The trip so far, had consisted of awkward silence from the three of them. What happened with Eretria wasn't something she regretted but she still felt awkward that Wil knew about it. She looked to the rover who was so focused on getting them back through the least populated streets in the area to avoid being seen, that she barely noticed Amberle staring at her. She caught her staring from the side of her eye and turned momentarily to give her a warm smile before turning her attention back to the street ahead of them. Amberle smiled back, relieved that Eretria didn't seem to feel the least bit of being uncomfortable with any of this. This girl who had turned them over to Cephelo just the day before, was the one responsible for saving her from every threat after that. And the way things ended last night... she didn't know how to go about this. Would it happen again or was it a one time thing to relieve all frustrations they had towards each other? It definitely succeeded in doing that, and it left them both hating each other a lot less but maybe it was more than that. Amberle didn't know why but she felt like she had some sort of commitment to Eretria. They didn't even know each other for long but all Amberle could think of, was how she didn't want Eretria to leave her when this was all over. She felt like she could trust her now and their connection could become much stronger over time.

The car's sudden stop and the engine turning off, snapped her out of her thoughts. "We're here" Eretria said as she she grabbed the duffle bag she had brought with her and got out of the car. "So where is your super secret headquarters base? Is it underground or something like that?"

"Actually, it's this apartment building right here." Wil said as he started walking towards the building's entrance.

"Seriously? It's ridiculous enough that you call it your headquarters, but the fact that it's a plain old apartment building just makes it even more absurd" Eretria laughed.

 Eretria followed the two of them into the building and up the stairs. They found Allanon sitting in the kitchen looking through some folders. He looked up at the three of them, but mainly Wil and Amberle and stayed silent for a moment before he stood up.

"I really appreciate the fact that the two of you decided to let me know you wouldn't be coming back for the night and that you were safe" he reprimanded. He then looked to Eretria. "And thank you for letting me know that you were going to bring over the rover that you were supposed to interrogate" he said halfheartedly. 

"Allanon, we're sorry. Things got crazy last night, we lost our comms and we tried to make it back to HQ but we had Rovers and the Enhanced looking for us so we had to lay low."

"A simple phone call would have sufficed. I could have helped you get out of there."

"We managed." Wil responded as he continued avoiding making any eye contact with Allanon who was basically fuming.

"Fine" Allanon sighed. "I want you to fill me in on everything that happened" he said while pointing at Wil. He turned back to Eretria. "And I have a feeling you'll be staying with us for a while. Am I right?" Eretria nodded nervously.

"She helped us escape last night and she'll help us on our investigation with the Enhanced Gang" Amberle added quickly. 

"Very well. Show her to the bedroom upstairs." Allanon said before he and Wil made their way into the briefing room. Amberle beckoned her head for Eretria to follow her upstairs. 

"This really isn't necessary you know? I can find somewhere else to stay."

"I know but... I'll feel better knowing you're somewhere safe and not alone. Besides, you're going to help us, remember?"

"I never agreed to that"

"You want to get paid, this is what you have to do" Amberle teased. They reached the bedroom door next to Amberle's room and made their way in. Eretria dropped her bag to the floor and looked around. 

"Where's your room?" Eretria asked.

"Right next door. Why?"

"Just so I know where to go when I get bored late at night" she looked to Amberle with a flirtatious smile. Amberle blushed and turned around, trying to hide it.

"I'll see if I can find you some sheets." She walked over to the closets and scavenged through the drawers. She heard Eretria walk out the door. "Where are you g-" The rover ignored her, so Amberle followed her. She had made her way into Amberle's room.

"Looks cozy" She looked around the room admiring it. It was slightly bigger than Eretria's and it was definitely cleaner since Amberle was currently staying in it, while Eretria's looked like no one had set foot in it for months. "Mind if I hang out in here for a while?" She walked over to the bed and lied down. "Aren't you gonna join me?" she said as she patted the empty side of the bed next to her. Amberle let out a small laugh and closed the bedroom door before joining the rover on the bed. She felt Eretria wrap her arm around her as she lied down next to her.

"You know, you don't have to leave when this is all over" Amberle said looking up at the girl whose gaze was fixed on the ceiling.

"And what would I do here?"

"We could work on... whatever this is" she said gesturing at the two of them. Eretria remained silent. "Unless this is all just a fun little fling for you" she said as she sat up.

"Hey" Eretria sat up next to her. "That's not what this is. Let's just... start figuring things out more before we move in together."

"I'm not asking you to move in with me Eretria. I just want you to give this a chance before running off. If it doesn't work out you can leave, go wherever you want. I- I won't force you to stay just... consider it. Even if it's just for a while." 

"Amberle, look at us. I'm a criminal and you're basically royalty in Arborlon. People like us don't work together."

"We can try. Last night, I felt something I've never felt before with Lorin or anyone else for that matter. There's something there between us. I know you feel it too."

"Amberle..." the rover looked away.

"What are you afraid of?" she turned the girl's face back to hers softly. Eretria turned back around and sighed.

"Last time I trusted someone, it didn't end well for either of us. I don't want to go through that again. And I don't want to make you go through that either. It's better this way. No strings attached."

"Is that what you really want though? To not take any risks? And what if it doesn't end badly? Are you willing to lose that to avoid the possibility of heartbreak?" Eretria didn't answer. "Okay then. Just be honest with me next time and tell me that all you want is to sleep with me." she started to get up.

"Amberle wait!" Eretria grabbed her wrist.

"Just be straightforward and tell me what you want. We can stop now before either of us have our feelings hurt. You just need to tell me that's what you want. I won't hold it against you" Eretria nodded before she leaned in and kissed Amberle.

"I don't want this to stop. Can we just... take it one step at a time?"

"Of course" Amberle interlaced their fingers. "I'm sorry if I came off a bit too forceful."

"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it. You're always like that" she smirked and Amberle glared at her.

"Not funny"

"I know, I'm just teasing" she gave Amberle another peck on the lips before standing up. "So should we head downstairs for the super secret mission briefing?"

Amberle snickered and followed the girl down the stairs and into the briefing room. Wil was sitting at the table, picking at a lose thread on his blue hoodie, while Allanon was focused on a laptop in front of her. He saw the two of them walk in and turned on the projector to his right.

"Could you turn off the lights?" He asked and Amberle turned them off before sitting down next to Eretria. The projector was aimed at the white-board on the wall ahead of them and Allanon started flipping through some pictures for them to see. "This morning, Arborlon City Bank was robbed by the Enhanced Gang. This is their first time robbing such a large and high-secure bank but it seems they're getting more confident with their skills. A few enhanced civilians tried to intervene but they were either injured or killed."

"That's awful" Amberle frowned as Allanon showed them photos from the crime scene.

"What's with the whole gun thing anyway? Why would they need guns if they're enhanced?" Wil asked.

"I was hoping Eretria could shine some light on that subject" Allanon said as he turned to look at the girl. Eretria seemed a bit unsettled with the three of them staring at her so Amberle reached for her hand under the table, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Well, from what I've heard, the weaker members of the gang - like the ones who have powers that can't be really used for violence - are the ones carrying weapons. It's also the same guys that pick up the guns at the trade-offs. I don't know who they are though. They never take off their masks."

"What else do you know about them?" Allanon inquired.

"They're fanatics. They think that they're superior to non-enhanced people and the only reason we deal with them, is because they pay _really_ well. They're _loaded_ with money. What else?" she asked herself. "Uhh- oh yeah! They also have a leader that no one's ever seen. He's never at any deals or trades but they always mention him. He's basically a ghost."

Allanon started writing things down in a file he had in from of him. "Thank you for this information Eretria. Is there _anything_ else you know?

"No. Sorry"

"Very well then. Back to the robbery. One of enhanced civilians managed to unmask one of the thieves." Allanon scrolled to the next picture which showed a tall boy with brown hair, holding a gun.

"Who is he?" Wil asked.

"The police are using facial recognition and run him through their database. His face has been on the news all day so we should get an answer soon. But so far, we have no clue as to who he might be"

"What about any witnesses or family members? Has no one come forward yet?" Wil added.

"Not yet"

"I think I know who he is" Eretria said suddenly.

"You do?" Amberle turned to the girl.

"I don't know him personally but I know who he is. His name's Bandon. He tried becoming a Rover once because he said needed the money to run away. Cephelo laughed at him and told him he wasn't cut out for it. His parents were also _kinda_ crazy and they hated him for some reason, calling him their demon son and stuff like that." she sighed. "It's so weird, I haven't seen him in months, I figured he just took off." 

"Do you know his last name?"

"No. But I know where he lived. His parents could probably give you some information."

"Perfect. Let's go." Allanon instructed as he stood up and left the room.

"You mean right now?" Wil called out.

"Yes" Allanon yelled from the stairway. The three of them stood up and followed Allanon to a black van with tinted windows on the other side of the street,

"This is what you drive around in? Could you guys  _be_ any more conspicuous?" Eretria remarked. Amberle nudged her in the side with her elbow. "Ow, sorry" 

When they got to the address Eretria had given them, Amberle realized that the Rover hideout was closer than she thought. At least they had Allanon with them for backup this time. Allanon walked up the porch stairs and knocked on the door. The door creaked open as soon as he touched it. The lock was damaged and it looked like it had been bashed in.

"Something's not right." Allanon said as he signaled them to wait outside. He walked in and a few minutes later he walked out with a frown on his face. "They're dead. It looks like they were attacked by the Enhanced."

Amberle covered her mouth in shock and she felt Eretria's hand come up on her shoulder for comfort. "Why?"

"I don't know" Allanon sighed. "But I found out the family's last name. If we can get this to the police we can confirm that it was him at the bank." Allanon then pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Ander" he said after the other side had answered. "I have a potential suspect for the Enhanced boy we caught on the security camera. I need you to pull up all the information you can find on 'Bandon Cooper'" There was a pause as Amberle's uncle searched for information on the other line. "Really? Are you absolutely sure?" Allanon looked confused with whatever her uncle was saying. "Which hospital was it?" he then asked. "Alright. We'll question them. And I'll send you the address I'm at for you to send a few officers. We've got two murders here. Thank you Ander." Allanon hung up the phone and still looked utterly confused. "It turns out Bandon died two months ago."

"What? How is that possible?" Wil shook his head. "Was that someone else on the security camera footage?"

"Maybe not" Allanon added cryptically. I'll drop you off at the Clinic so you can ask them about Bandon. The death certificate, how he died and all that. I need to do some research back at HQ" he said as he got into the van and started the engine. Allanon drove a lot faster than usual on their way to the hospital and he drove off as soon as the three of them got out of the van.

" _Someone's_ in a hurry" Wil added. The three of them then walked inside and straight to the front desk. "Excuse me?" Wil asked the nurse working the desk. "We're looking for some information on a previous patient here. His name is Bandon Cooper" The nurse smiled before she started typing on the hospital computer. 

"Are you family members?" she asked as she scrolled through the files.

"We're friends" Eretria added quickly. The nurse nodded before a frown formed on her face.

"Well, I'm very sorry but your friend passed away two months ago."

"Can you tell us how?" Will inquired and the nurse looked slightly surprised at their lack of tears. She went back to typing on her computer.

"Well it says here that he died from three bullet wounds to the chest. The physician noted that it was revealed to be a gang attack and- well that's odd."

"What is it?" Amberle asked.

"It says that we contacted his parents but they never came to claim the body."

"Where's the body now?"

"Well that's the strange thing about this. We usually note all information on a body's whereabouts but there's nothing here. No information on whether he was buried or if his body was given to a medical school. Nothing. You'd have to ask the physician in charge of his surgery for any more information.

"And who might that be?" Wil asked.

"Doctor Brooks. His office is on the third floor."

"Thank you for your help" Wil added as the three of them made their way to the elevator.

"You think he could have faked his death?" Eretria asked them.

"It's possible but with the doctor in on it and everything? It would be hard." Wil answered. When they reached the doctor's door, Wil knocked and a voice from inside told them to come in. They were greeted by a tall man with black hair in a lab coat.

"What can I help you with?" he asked with a wide smile on his face.

"We're working on a story for our school newspaper and we have some questions on a patient of yours. He died two months ago after he was shot. His name was Bandon" Amberle explained.

"Ah I remember that boy. He was brought in by someone who said he was shot by a local gang member. A shame what happened." he shook his head "What would you like to know?"

"It looks like he's involved in an ongoing investigation of gang activity. He seems to be _alive_." Amberle clarified.

"Alive? That's not possible. He had three shots in the chest when they brought him into the operating room. He'd lost a lot of blood and we worked on him for hours before he died."

"Are you sure there wasn't some sort of mistake?"

"Oh I'm positive. That boy died on my operating table that night."

"Well what happened to his body?" Eretria chimed in.

"It was taken down to the morgue until someone claimed it. Roger was the morgue technician back then. He was transferred the week after."

"Transfered? How come?"

"No idea. Apparently he was offered a better position at some other hospital." Amberle looked to Wil and Eretria who seemed just as skeptical as she did.

"Well thank you for your time Doctor." Amberle added.

"My pleasure" the man stood up and shook each of their hands. Amberle paused as they were about to walk out the door.

"One more question Doctor Brooks. Was Bandon... enhanced?"

"We test all our patients before we give them blood because enhanced people need very specific blood types sometimes. But it didn't look like he was"

"Thank you again Doctor." The three of them made their way out of the hospital. "Okay I'm not the only one who thinks this all looks suspicious right?"

"No you're not" Wil responded. "We should get back to Allanon"

"Uhh how exactly are we getting back?" Amberle asked. "We don't have a car"

"I can get us a ride" Eretria beamed.

"No" Amberle and Wil responded at the same time.

"We're not stealing another car" Amberle added. "We'll just take a cab" 

"Fine" Eretria huffed in response. They waited about twenty minutes for the cab to arrive after they called. The driver looked like he wished he were anywhere else and it was a quiet ride. They eventually reached their destination and paid the man before he took off abruptly. 

"Allanon?" Wil called out into the apartment as they walked in. They found him in the briefing room looking through a pile of files.

"Good you're back. What did you find out?"

"Well, it looks like Bandon was shot by a gang member - but we don't know which gang - his parents never claimed the body and-"

"And there is no information on the body's whereabouts." Allanon interrupted, before Wil could finish his sentence.

"Uh yeah. How'd you know?"

"There were seven other cases with the same outcome in the past few months. Bodies going missing when there aren't any family members to claim them. And it's all around the same time that the Enhanced gang's activity spiked. More robberies, more members. It's all connected."

"So you think the Enhanced is faking these deaths somehow to gain new members?"

"It's possible. They find any desperate enhanced being that needs their help, fakes their death by paying off the doctors and having them join their ranks. All to avoid any suspicion for any evidence left behind. They're all ghosts."

"But Bandon didn't have any powers. The doctor told us" Amberle pointed out.

"He could be lying. If he was paid off to fake Bandon's death, he'll lie about anything"

"What about the morgue technician? Apparently he was transferred out of nowhere the week after Bandon died." she continued.

"It could have been part of the deal with the Enhanced. They probably have connections with people in the city government too." Wil added.

"That's likely. They're influence is growing." Allanon noted. He closed the file he had in front of him. "It's been a long day, why don't you all rest for now?" The three of them nodded before making their way up their rooms. Amberle hesitated outside her door before she decided on going to Eretria's room. The girl was already in there so she knocked. She found her lying on her bed when she walked in.

"Mind if I stay in here for a while?" she said somberly. Eretria grinned at Amberle before she saw the solemn look on her face, and her grin turned into a frown.

"Sure" she said calmly. She sat up and made room for Amberle on her bed. "What's wrong?"

"I just don't want to be alone right now. All this death... it's getting to me. Bringing back memories of people I've lost" She felt Eretria hug her, which truly surprised her.

"You're not alone princess" Amberle melted into the embrace, resting her head on the other girl's chest and listening to her steady heartbeat.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for all the exposition in this chapter but it's necessary for everything that's coming up


	7. Chapter 7

After a few weeks of no major leads in their investigation, the team spent most of their time either stopping petty criminals or hanging out at the apartment together. Amberle, Wil and Eretria would stay up late into the night most of the time, either talking or playing weird board games that Wil kept in his room or even watching cheesy movies. They grew closer each day. Especially Amberle and Eretria. Eretria spent most nights sleeping in Amberle's room with her. Amberle barely had her own room anymore, but she wasn't complaining. She'd wake up in the other girl's embrace every morning, feeling secure and relaxed. All worries would fade away, and she'd sometimes forget that this time of peace and quiet was only temporary. None of them were safe outside the apartment. Hell, who knows if they were even still safe _in_ the apartment. Who knows if any of the Enhanced or Rovers tracked them here. It's been suspiciously quiet on their end.

Amberle sat up in bed, looking to the sleeping Rover next to her and smiling before quietly making her way out of bed to not disturb the other girl. They had an _interesting_ night so she didn't intend on waking the other girl up so early. She looked at the clock on her nightstand next to the bed, reading 6:30 am. Amberle had a habit of waking up early on most days, she didn't know why, but she did. She grabbed her shirt from the end of the bed and started putting it on when she heard Eretria groan behind her. The girl turned to Amberle, still lying down and half-asleep.

"Come back to bed" she said as she reached for Amberle. Amberle turned around and leaned down to kiss the other girl on the forehead.

"Go back to sleep" she pushed some of Eretria's hair out of her face and rested her hand on her cheek before she got back up.

"Fine" Eretria mumbled before instantly falling back asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Amberle chuckled before getting dressed and making her way downstairs. 

As soon as she walked into the kitchen she jumped when she saw Allanon standing hunched over the counter.

"Allanon! You scared me" Allanon remained silent. Amberle looked at him worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"A boy was killed last night." He said grimly. "During a turf war between the Rovers and the Enhanced."

"What? Oh my god."

"His name was Brian. He was only 17."

"How did this happen?" she asked sternly.

"Enhanced gang members made their way into Rover territory. Probably looking for you and Wil. Things didn't end well when the Rovers didn't cooperate I'm guessing and there was a shoot out. According to reports few Rovers were injured when they left, two of the were killed and so was the boy. He happened to be staying on the streets. Wrong place, wrong time unfortunately." Allanon sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"They've been off the grid for weeks and now they're starting turf wars and killing innocent bystanders? We have to stop this before anyone else gets hurt." she sighed. Allanon stayed silent, clearly shaken up by what happened. "What about his family?"

"No family. No one came claim the body. He was an orphan living on the streets." 

"Who was?" a voice came from behind Amberle.

"Eretria." she acknowledged the other girl. "A boy named Brian. He was...killed last night during a shootout."

"A 17 year old blond boy living on the streets in Rover territory?" she asked.

"Yes" Allanon answered from behind Amberle. She looked to Eretria with a confused expression.

"You knew him?" she asked concerned. The shorter girl sighed.

"Yeah. He was a great kid" she sighed. "I'm gonna-be in my room" she said before she swiftly turned around and walked up the stairs. Amberle followed her without a second thought. 

"Hey" she said softly as soon as she shut the bedroom door behind her. "You okay?"

"Yeah I just-" she exhaled before sitting on her bed. "He didn't deserve this. He was just a kid. And there are so many kids like him living on the streets right now and they don't deserve this."

"I'm sorry" Amberle said as she sat down next to her.

"Cephelo tried taking in kids living alone on the streets to make them Rovers. Brian was one of the few who refused. And now he's dead. And there's still kids out there right now, who are in danger. Amberle we have to-"

"I know." She looked into Eretria's pleading eyes. "I promise you, we're gonna stop them before they hurt anyone else. All of them. You won't have to worry about the Rovers and we can stop the Enhanced. We just have to work together." Eretria nodded before Amberle wrapped her arms around her for comfort. "We're in this together now." Eretria looked up and gave Amberle a warm smile before kissing her.

After a few moments of sitting together in silence, the two of them made their way downstairs and decided on cereal for breakfast. Allanon was in the briefing room, his actions shifting from pacing, or looking at his phone or going through files. The girls sat at the table, waiting for any updates even after they'd finished eating. Allanon then started pacing again before he finally walked into the kitchen. 

"I'll need the two of you to go down to the General Hospital and check on the boy's body. See if the morgue technician has any updates or if anyone's claimed the body."

"What about Wil?" Amberle asked.

"I've got another task for him to do. Take the van" He said as he tossed the keys to Amberle. "Keep me updated and stay safe" he said before making his way back into the briefing room. 

* * *

"Hi there." Eretria said as she made her way to the front desk with a (definitely forced) smile on her face. "We're from the Arborlon University journalism club and we're writing an article about the dangers of Gangs in this city for young people. It's been brought to our attention that a young boy, about 17 years old was brought in last night after a deadly shootout in Rover territory." Before the nurse could begin to answer, Eretria continued. "We'd like to speak to the doctor who was in charge of that particular case."

"I'm sorry dear, but that boy was DOA. The paramedics did all they could but he never made it to the hospital alive." The older nurse responded.

"Well, where is he now?" Amberle asked.

"Down in the morgue until he's claimed by family."

"Can we speak to the morgue technician then?"

"I'm sorry, but he's not allowed to talk about this particular case."

"Why not?" 

"Hospital policy. Only family members can see the body right now."

"But-"

"Thank you very much. Have a nice day" Eretria interrupted Amberle before pulling her away by the arm.

"What are you doing? We need answers" Amberle whispered.

"And we're not getting any from her. We gotta get down to that morgue and see what's going on."

"And how do you suggest we-"

"We take the elevator. Duh" Eretria teased as she made her way to one of the elevators. It was empty when the doors opened. Eretria examined the labels next to each button before finding "Morgue" in the basement.

The hallway was empty and it felt colder to Amberle. They walked down the hallway until they found the morgue entrance. A man sat at a table, flipping through the pages of a newspaper.

"You're not allowed down here" he said, not even looking up to acknowledge them. 

"We were told we would be able to see our friend's body" Eretria lied. The man sighed exasperatedly, and set down his newspaper before turning his attention to the computer on the desk in front of him. 

"Names?"

"Kimberly and Elise" Amberle raised her brow at the other girl's ability to lie so quickly and convincingly.

"Sorry, you're not on the list." he turned his attention back to his newspaper.

"Please sir. Can we at least speak to the morgue technician?"

"He's busy"

"You haven't even checked." Eretria scolded him.

"Nothing I can do ladies." Amberle looked to Eretria, and shook her head, implying that they should just leave. As they were about to, they heard a crash from inside the morgue along with a man yelling.

"What was that?" Eretria asked the man.

"None of your business. Move along."

"Aren't you gonna check?"

"My job is to sit her and keep nosy people outside of the morgue, not check on the technician even time he drops something." Eretria glared at the man before walking around his desk and towards the door. The man swiftly stood up and grabbed her by the wrist. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"Let go of me!"

"I'm calling security!" He said as he made his way back to his desk, pulling Eretria with him. Before he could reach the phone, he was pushed back into the wall by an invisible force. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"Cool" Eretria said as she looked to Amberle whose hand was raised after using her telekinesis to push the man. "About time you helped" she teased.

"Well I'm sorry I was hesitant to knocking out a hospital employee and breaking into a morgue."

"Well, something suspicious is going on so, we're totally justified" Amberle rolled her eyes and let out a soft chuckle before following Eretria into the morgue. It was empty, besides a few bodies covered with sheets on metal tables. Suddenly the morgue technician, an older man with grey hair and glasses, came bursting through the back door and looked shocked as soon as he saw the two of them.

"Who are you? You're not allowed back here! Get out!"

"We just need to see a body" Amberle tried to reason.

"Young lady, I _will_ call security!" He started to make his way to a phone on the wall when Eretria pulled a gun out of her waistband. 

"Sorry doc. We don't have time for this right now." She said as she aimed it at him. The man raised his arms.

What are you-" Amberle said shocked.

"Okay, okay! What do you want?" the man cut her off.

"A kid named Brian, late-teens. Came in last night with bullet wounds." The man's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, but that body has been transferred to another hospital. You just missed him."

"Transferred? Why?" Amberle asked, confused.

"No one claimed it"

"He came in _last_ night. How could he have been transferred already?"

"It's not up to me."

"Well where is he now?" Eretria asked impatiently.

"I don't know."

"Sorry about this." Eretria sighed before making her way over to the man and knocking him out with the back of her pistol. She looked to Amberle who was staring at her with a shocked expression.

"I can't believe you brought a gun."

"I wasn't gonna shoot him. It's not even loaded." She said as she tucked it back into the waistband of her pants and covering it with her hoodie.

"Eretria..."

"Not all of us have powers. I gotta use _something_." Amberle sighed. "We gotta go. We don't wanna be caught down here with two knocked out employees." Eretria added. They walked out of the room and Eretria stopped to look around the hallway.

"What are you doing?" Amberle asked as she pressed the elevator button and waited for it to arrive.

"Checking for cameras. It doesn't look like that have any on this floor which is both a relief and sad. The government won't even give the hospitals enough money for security cameras in their basement?" Amberle turned away feeling slightly ashamed. "Don't worry princess. _You're_  not the one running this town. You're just related to them." Eretria added with a smile. Amberle smiled back, thankful. 

They reached the first floor and as soon as the elevator doors opened, they dashed to the exit and made their way to the van as a couple of security guards made their way into the elevator.

" _That_ was a close one." Eretria chuckled nervously before starting the van and they drove off.

* * *

 

"Allanon!" Amberle yelled as soon as they reached the apartment. Wil and Allanon were talking, and they turned to the girls as they walked in. "The body was transferred. Just like Bandon's was according to the hospital records. The morgue technician didn't even know where it was taken." she continued rather fast. Allanon nodded.

"Someone's taking these bodies, but why? What use could they have for them?"

"And if Bandon was seen alive, are they even dead when they bodies are taken?" Wil questioned.

"The more important question is, _who_ is taking these bodies?" Eretria added from behind Amberle. Allanon nodded, while thinking.

"What about you two? Any leads?" Amberle asked.

"Well, I just got back from the police station. Your uncle Arion was as welcoming as ever" He said sarcastically. "And from what they could tell, Brian wasn't shot by a stray bullet. He was still alive when they got there so they couldn't take a good look at him, but the paramedics, who _did_ said his wounds looked more direct rather than stray bullet wounds."

"So someone shot him? Why?" Eretria asked.

"No idea. They said the hospital wouldn't give out he body for investigation and the morgue technician wasn't too helpful."

"Anything else?" Amberle inquired.

"Well..." Wil grinned. "There _were_ reports about two women assaulting two government employees at the hospital. One was enhanced and the other was armed apparently." Wil said, still grinning as he looked at the two girls. Allanon crossed his arms, waiting for the girls to answer.

"Oh yeah. We heard about that when we left the hospital. What a shame." Eretria said sarcastically. Amberle tried to cover up her laugh with a fake cough.

"Well, next time we " _hear about it_ ", maybe we should _stop it_." Allanon added as he glared at the two girls who were trying to suppress their laughter.

"Yeah, _definitely_ " Eretria replied.

"What's our next move?" Amberle asked as soon as she got her laughter under control.

"Questioning the Rovers that were there last night. We need a detailed explanation." Allanon said.

"Wouldn't it be a _little_ dangerous, since the Rovers are looking for us and all that?" Wil added.

"Question them in public areas where they can't do anything to you"

"I know _just_ the place" Eretria said proudly. "It's this cafe/club called Utopia. Rover's hang out there a lot, but it's considered a safe zone." 

"Good. Rest for a while and then head down there. See what you can find out." The three of them nodded before making their way to the couch. Amberle sat down first and Eretria lied down next to her, resting her head on Amberle's legs. Wil sat by Eretria's feet, stretching his legs as he sat down. Amberle absentmindedly started playing with Eretria's hair.

"Up for a movie?" He asked as he picked up the TV remote.

"Not really." Amberle answered. "Maybe just some TV" Wil started flipping though the channels as he always did. Amberle looked down to see Eretria completely zoned out, thinking about something as she stared at the ceiling. Amberle grinned and snapped her fingers in front of Eretria's face making her snap out of it. "You zoning out on me now? Am I _that_ boring?" She teased.

"Yeah, you are" the rover answered. Amberle playfully slapped Eretria's shoulder.

"Okay fine. Find a pillow to lie on then" she continued to tease.

"Come on princess. You _know_ you could never bore me" she grinned. Her hand reached behind Amberle's neck as she pulled her down to kiss her. Eretria's lips were soft against Amberle's as she started deepening the kiss.

"Get a room" Wil joked. Eretria kicked him playfully. 

"Don't like it? Door's right there." She teased.

"Oh stop it" Amberle intervened. "No more teasing each other" Wil laughed before shifting his gaze back to the TV. "What were you thinking about?" Amberle asked Eretria.

"Hm?"

"Just now, when you zoned out. What were you thinking about?"

"Oh nothing really. Just how much different my life became ever since I met you. I was living the Rover life until a stubborn little princess came along and forced me to join her mission of saving the world" she joked.

"Stubborn huh?"

"Oh yeah. _Definitely_ " she grinned.

"Seriously?"

"You're so gullible, it's adorable."

"HaHa, very funny" Amberle said. The three of them watched TV for a while, Eretria even took a nap on Amberle's lap until it was noon, when Utopia opened for the day. They took the van and drove down there.

* * *

It was pretty crowded when they got there. The tables were full, but Amberle and Wil followed Eretria around the line at the counter and towards the back. A tall blonde girl stood at the bottom of the steps in front of them. She looked to Eretria, glared at her and then moved to the side, letting them all up the stairs. They arrived in a large office. Another blonde girl was sitting on the couch in front of the large desk and she also glared at Eretria.

"What do _you_ want?" she said venomously. 

"I'm just here to talk to Tye" she said innocently. A young man with brown curly hair, around their age then walked out through a doorway to another room. The door was gone, but beads on strings hung in it's place from the top of the doorway.

"Eretria" Tye nodded. "What brings you by?" 

"Me and my friends here" she said gesturing to Amberle and Wil are looking for some Rovers. We have some questions"

"Ahh yes. I heard you had a falling out with Cephelo. And now you're what? A snitch? Working with the cops?"

"I'm not a snitch" she glared at him.

"And we're not cops. We're just looking for some answers" Amberle interjected. Tye studied Amberle and grinned before looking back to Eretria.

"Oh I see how it is. Interesting. I wouldn't have thought she was your type"

"Tye" Eretria warned. Tye sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You _know_ that most Rovers come here at night for the nightclub"

"But there's almost always a few here during the day, and we don't have time to wait until tonight. Who's here Tye?"

"I know _Zora_ is gonna be here tonight, if you're interested." Eretria froze and Amberle noticed.

"I'm _not_ " she said spitefully as she glared at him. He paused.

"Frankie's here with Don. They're both downstairs."

"Thank you" she said with sarcastically, with only malice in her voice. As they made their way towards the doorway to go back downstairs, the tall blonde from downstairs and a tall bald guy blocked their path. "What is this?" Eretria asked.

"Well I was hoping I'd get a reward for my cooperation."

"In your dreams"

"Well this is why you can't leave then. See, Cephelo's got a bounty on your head. "Dead or alive" for you, and "alive" for your friends back there. So unless you can offer something better, I can't let you leave."

Eretria turned to Amberle and Wil, nodding to give them a signal. She then swiftly pulled out her handgun and Wil lifted his arm, blasting one of Tye's guards. Amberle used her telekinesis to lift the large desk and drop it on Tye and the shorter blonde girl, trapping them both under its weight on the floor. The remaining guard charge at Eretria, but she used that momentum to flip him over and on to the ground. The three of them then ran down the stairs and hid in the alleyway across the street where they had parked the van. They were all hunched over, panting from all that running.

"Who _was_ that guy?" Amberle asked as she leaned against the van, still panting.

"An ex. You can probably tell it didn't end well but we weren't even together for too long."

"And what about Zora?" Amberle asked. Eretria paused before answering.

"Another ex. And she's a lot less friendlier than Tye. But she actually might have some answers."

"So now what?" Wil asked.

"We come back later tonight." Eretria said before getting in the van.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I've updated, I know. School's been keeping me pretty busy but the next chapter should come soon


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning tease: Possible character death in this chapter. Read the end notes for more information.

They drove by Utopia before parking the van in an alleyway a few blocks down. They went back to the apartment when their meeting with Tye had gone bad, and now they were back to question Eretria's other ex, Zora. Amberle tried not to let it bother her, but she felt a slight bit jealous when thinking about the fact that Eretria would be faced with her ex-girlfriend again. Amberle didn't know what the extent of their relationship had been.

"Okay here's the plan" Eretria suddenly spoke up as Wil had taken the keys out of the ignition. "I'll go in there, question Zora, and you two wait here"

"You want to go in alone?" Amberle asked shocked.

"It might not be safe for you two down there. Plus, there's a chance I'll be running out of there and one of you needs to be getaway driver." Eretria explained.

"Well, it's not safe for _you_ either. The Rovers are looking for _you_ too, remember? You're gonna need back up. So _I'll_ come with you and _Wil_  can be the getaway driver."

"You'll be safer if you stay _here_." Eretria replied.

"I can take care of myself"

"I won't need your help!"

"I'm coming with you and that's final!" Amberle said in a slightly angered manner.

"What? You just gonna order us all around now _princess_?"

"No! I-I'm not- You're not going in there alone!"

"Do I get any say in this plan?" Wil asked while raising his hand.

"No!" The two girls yelled at the same time. Eretria rolled her eyes and looked at Amberle and sighed.

"Fine! But you do whatever I say and don't talk to anyone" Amberle nodded and followed Eretria out of the van and to the street. Eretria gave her a cold shoulder the whole walk to Utopia, while refusing to look at her.

"I'm sorry things got a little bit heated back there. You're not mad are you?" Amberle asked.

"Does it _look_ like I'm mad." Eretria said as she continued looking ahead and still not looking at Amberle.

"Well... Yes. Look, I'm sorry. I know I can get a bit stubborn sometimes but how could you expect me to let you go down there alone with Rovers everywhere?"

"Utopia is a neutral zone"

"And that didn't stop Tye from turning on us earlier today _did_ it?" Eretria didn't answer. "And that's not the point. You can't just run into danger alone. We're a team and we stick together."

"You don't know these people like _I_ do Amberle!" Eretria yelled as she stopped and looked at Amberle. "They're dangerous and I can't handle them while also worrying about you"

"As I've said before... I can take care of myself.

"It's just- You could get hurt and that's-" she sighed. "That's not a risk I'm willing to take."

"I'm the one with the  _superpowers_  remember?" she snickered. She noticed Eretria's smile before she looked away again. Amberle put her hand on the other girl's cheek, turning her head to look her in the eyes. "You don't have to worry about me. Okay?"

"Okay" Eretria nodded. "I'm sorry too" she smiled. "We better keep moving though. Being alone at night on these streets isn't really the smartest thing to do" she said before leading the way to Utopia.

The cafe they had been at earlier was closed but there were peopled lined up to the entrance of the club right next door at the same building. The club must have been in a basement because the door that they were all waiting outside of only lead into a smaller side of the whole building. Amberle followed Eretria passed the whole line of people. Some of them scoffed or gave them dirty looks. Eretria walked right up to the club bouncer, who was a tall dark-skinned man. He looked down at Eretria glaring at her before moving to the side and letting her and Amberle through the entrance. The music got louder as they walked down the stairs. When they finally got inside, the music was blasting really loud and it smelled like alcohol and cigarettes and probably some sweat.

It was mostly dark besides the dim lighting on some of the walls and the flashing spotlights. There was a large crowd on the dance floor that she and Eretria had to make their way through all the drunk dancers. They finally got to the bar in the middle of the club, and Eretria waited for the bartender. When he finally came over he turned his head trying to hear what Eretria was saying and she leaned over the counter probably yelling into his ear because the music was so loud. He nodded and pointed to the back of the club which was on a slightly higher level with booths and couches. Eretria nodded and thanked the man before she motioned for Amberle to follow her to the back. When they got there, Eretria stopped and looked around before making her way towards one booth in particular, with a crowd of people drinking and laughing. There was a girl with darker skin girl and red hair sitting in the middle, whose smile faded as soon as she saw Eretria. She glared at her before standing up suddenly and walking towards the bathroom motioning for Eretria to follow.

The bathroom was a lot quieter than the club. Not as quiet as Amberle hoped but they could all hear each other a lot better. The girl stopped near the sinks and glared at them both.

"Tye told me you might be stopping by Eretria" she said venomously.

"We just want to ask a few questions" she replied.

"I don't talk to snitches."

"I'm _not_ working with the cops! Is that what Tye told you? Because he's lying-"

"I can tell a rat when I see one" she scoffed. Amberle held Eretria back before she attacked the other girl. "And I know about what happened with Cephelo. No loyalty at all huh? Although I'm not surprised. Seeing how things ended between _us_. And now you're here with another one of your weekly flings" she looked to Amberle. "And you think I'm gonna wanna cooperate?"

"It's all going to hell out there! The Enhanced and the Rovers are starting a gang war and killing innocent people in the process! I'm not gonna stand by and watch so, yeah, I _do_ expect you to cooperate." Eretria yelled. Zora just rolled her eyes. "Last night. There was a deal gone wrong and a kid was killed. What do you know about it?" Zora remained silent as she continued glaring at the other girls. "Zora!"

"Fine" she sighed. I know someone that was at that deal. She said the Enhanced were looking for someone and they made their way into Rover territory fully armed. They barely got to ask any questions before the Enhanced attacked. That's all I know."

"What about the kid?"

"Shot by an Enhanced. It might not have been an accidental hit either apparently"

"What do you mean it wasn't accidental?" Amberle asked before the door swung open and two goons walked in with their guns aimed at Eretria and Amberle. Zora smirked.

"About time you idiots got here" she said before pulling out her own gun and aiming at Eretria.

"This was a set up." Eretria said as she stepped in front of Amberle to shield her.

"Duh" Zora said as she waved her gun around. "Cephelo's gotta pretty good price on you guys so I'm planning on taking you alive. Make it hard for us and we kill you." Eretria was about to pull her gun out when Zora fired hers and Amberle felt Eretria push her back before Amberle heard her yell and clutch her shoulder. Zora laughed. "Even if you get through us, you're not getting out of this club"

"We'll take our chances" Eretria said as Amberle used her powers to push the guns out of the Zora's and her men's hands. Eretria kicked Zora while Amberle used her telekinesis and pushed the two men through the door, unhinging it, and out into the club. The two of them ran towards the stairs when they heard gunshots behind them. People started screaming and running towards the exit, causing a panic. When the girls finally made their way outside, the people who were lined up to get into the club were scattered and running away. Eretria took Amberle's hand and they started running back to where the van was. 

The gunshots were now coming from behind them, outside the club. Eretria pulled Amberle behind a car for cover. She pulled out her gun and looked back to see Zora standing with on the street with a few of her friends, all armed next to her.

"Come on Eretria! There's no need to do this the hard way!" Zora yelled before shooting at the car that the two girls were hiding behind. Eretria, turned around and aimed her gun at them before shooting. They got into cover behind cars or in alleyways next to them.

"Call Wil" she said. "Tell him to meet us here"

"Where would he meet us- There's nowhere to- I mean how- Oh my god we're gonna die" Amberle started rambling as she panicked more and more with every sentence.

"Amberle! I need you to calm down. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, okay? We can't win this fight and it'll be too dangerous to run on this open street, so we're gonna need the van." she cupped Amberle's cheek. "Call Wil and tell him to try to find a way to get closer to us. Okay? Can you do that?" She said while caressing Amberle's cheek with her thumb. Amberle nodded before she activated her comm. Eretria kept shooting at Zora and her goons, keeping them back. 

"Wil! We need help. We're pinned down and we need you to bring the van closer!" Amberle said frantically.

"I've got a few Rovers on this side too but I'll find a way to get to you guys!" He answered. Amberle shut her eyes and took a deep breath as she leaned against the car, before looking at Eretria. The other girl fired at the Rovers a few more times before she turned back and leaned against the car next to Amberle. She whimpered as she reloaded her handgun. Amberle examined the other girl before seeing the blood oozing through her jacket on her left shoulder.

"You're hurt!" she said reading forward.

"I'm fine!" Eretria snapped.

"No you're not! You're bleeding!"

"Amberle, if I don't hold them off, we'll both be in much worse situations" she said before her expression softened as she noticed how scared Amberle looked. "When this is all over we'll get ice cream together. I know this place a few blocks away. They've got the best sundaes you'll ever have. It'll be a real date." Amberle smiled.

"You're just saying this to make me feel better."

"True" she grinned. "But I mean it. You're gonna make it through this and it'll all be fine, okay?" she gave her a warm smile. A few shots hit the car again, interrupting them.

"Let me help! I can't stop the bullets mid air but I can- I can- I don't know, I'll do something!" Amberle pleaded. Eretria snickered.

"Don't worry about it princess. Just watch my back and we should be fine."

After a few more minutes of ducking and shooting from both sides, Amberle heard Wil over her comm.

"Guys! I'm here!"

"Where?" Amberle asked as she looked around.

"See that alley between the buildings across the street from you? I'm right on the other side!"

"Got ya!" Eretria replied. She looked to Amberle. "On my mark, you run and don't look back okay? I'll keep you covered" she kissed Amberle fervently, as if it were the last time. "You're gonna be fine. I promise." she added. Amberle nodded. She felt the adrenaline starting to kick in, as she got ready to run for her life, literally. Eretria shot at the other Rovers a few more times and then yelled at Amberle to run. Amberle stood up and started running across the street, with Eretria walking right behind her, still firing at the Zora and the other Rovers. Amberle made it to cover behind another car across the street. The alley was a few feet away, but she wasn't going to run to safety before she knew Eretria was gonna make it with her. Eretria was in the middle of the street completely exposed as she kept firing.

"Eretria!" Amberle yelled. "Come on!" she pleaded.

The rovers started moving forward, probably aware that the girls were trying to escape. Eretria hit the first one to come out and he fell back to the ground. Zora also seemed to have changed her handgun for a sniper riffle and as she lined up her weapon on the car she was hiding behind and aimed at Eretria in this hectic situation, Amberle couldn't do anything but yell at Eretria to move as she fired two shots. Her warning wasn't enough as she saw Eretria's body jerk with the impact of each bullet. Everything then felt as if it were moving in slow motion for Amberle as Eretria fell to her knees, dropping her own weapon.

"Eretria!!" she screamed as she felt her eyes tearing up. 

"Amberle..." she struggled to say. "G-Go!"

"I'm not leaving you!" she cried as she started to stand up and go to the other girl. Zora and the other Rovers were no longer ducking for cover, but they were walking towards Amberle and Eretria. One of them fired a few shots in Amberle's direction, warning her to stay back. She heard Wil asking where they were, over her comm but she ignored him as she was so focused on Eretria.

"Stay where you are _enhanced_!" Zora snapped. The other three remaining Rovers started making their way to Amberle.

"I don't think so!" she yelled as she stood up swiftly and used her telekinesis to push the three Rovers roughly into the store window on her left, knocking them all out. Zora pulled out her handgun, aiming it at Eretria's forehead. She was too close to miss. Eretria was even struggling to keep herself upright.

"You're not fast enough to stop a moving bullet are you?" Amberle didn't reply. "I didn't think so. So here's the plan. You two come with me, without a fuss and I don't shoot Eretria here between the eyes. Bounty on _her_ head is dead or alive, so don't test me. It doesn't look like she's gonna make it anyway."

"Amberle r-run. Don't- Don't listen to her." Eretria slurred.

"Shut up!" Zora yelled. "So what's it gonna be?" Amberle didn't respond but she glared at the Rover. She looked down at Eretria who was looking at her with a pleading gaze and struggling to breath. "I don't have all night" Zora added.

"Amberle please. It's not worth it" Eretria pleaded again.

"I-" she hesitated. 

"Fine." Zora said. She looked down at Eretria and aimed her gun before pulling the trigger.

"No!" Amberle yelled as she raised her arms. Zora's eyes widened as the bullet she had just fired was floating right in front of Eretria's face. Amberle looked down at it, shocked at what she had done.

She'd never stopped a moving bullet before, but Eretria's life on the line must have made her push passed her limits. Eretria looked equally as shocked as the other two. Amberle then flung the bullet to the side before she pushed Zora into the air and on to the windshield of the car behind her. She then ran to Eretria and crouched down next to her.

"That was _some_ trick princess" she joked.

"Try not to talk much. It looks like you were hit in the lung." she said as she examined the other girl. Besides the injury in her shoulder from earlier, Eretria had a bullet wound in her lower chest and one on her side, right above her left hipbone. Amberle heard the other Rovers groan as they started to stir awake. "We need to go now!" she said as she started to help Eretria stand up. She could tell it was painful for her to move, but Eretria was still trying to look strong for Amberle.

"Amberle-"

"We're gonna get you to a hospital. You're gonna be okay" she wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Eretria or herself. She put Eretria's arm over her shoulders and had her lean against her as they made their way to the van. Eretria whimpered with every step.

"I can't- I can't go on Amberle. You need to run to the van before the Rovers gain on us."

"We're almost there." she said as she tried to hold back her sobs. She was all choked up and she knew she wasn't fooling Eretria. 

"I've had my share of bullet wounds. I know when I'm done for."

"No! Don't say that! You're gonna be fine." They made their way through the alleyway and found the van parked to their left right next to the sidewalk. Wil rushed out of the van and came to Eretria's other side, helping Amberle get her into the van.

"What happened?!" he yelled.

"Things didn't go so well with Zora" Eretria replied. Wil pulled the back seats up and set Eretria down on them.

"We need to get her to a hospital Wil." Amberle sobbed as she got into the back of the van with Eretria. Wil nodded as he shut the door and made his way to the driver's seat. He started the van and sped off.

Amberle had Eretria's head resting on her legs. She was wheezing and struggling to breath and Amberle couldn't do anything to help her.

"You're gonna be okay sweetie. Stay with me okay?" she sobbed as she caressed the other girl's cheek. She braced her at the sharp turns and tried to comfort her whenever she groaned in pain.

When they finally got to the General Hospital and Wil carried a bleeding and unconscious Eretria through the entrance.

"We need help!" he yelled. A nurse rushed from behind the desk and pulled a gurney to Wil. He laid Eretria down on it. The nurse called over another nurse who brought over a doctor.

"What happened? The nurse asked as they started wheeling her away.

"She was shot. Please you have to help her!" Amberle pleaded.

"We're gonna do everything we an young lady" The doctor reassured her.They finally reached an operating room and another nurse came forward and stopped Amberle and Wil from entering. 

"You can't go in there. We'll help your friend but right now you need to stay out here. There's a waiting room right down the hall" The nurse the rushed in to the OR.

Amberle was sobbing and letting out shuddering gasps when she finally sat down in the waiting room. Wil sat down next to her.

"Deep breaths Amberle" he said as he tried comforting her with his hands on her shoulders. "Okay? Calm down and take deep breaths. It's gonna be okay"

"Wil she wasn't looking good. I can't- I can't lose her! And it's all my fault-" she continued sobbing. 

"Sshh" Wil hugged her. "Eretria wouldn't want you blaming yourself. You're not the one that did this to her."

"I know but- This can't be happening" she rubbed her eyes. Wil hugged her again, rubbing circles on her back.

"It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

* * *

They waited for hours. Amberle wasn't sure how long exactly but it was definitely late at night. She almost fell asleep a few times but anytime she did, she thought of Eretria which jolted her back awake. Wil had called Allanon to tell them about everything that happened earlier and he was now on his way to find more coffee for them both. He finally got back and handed Amberle another cup of coffee which was definitely horrible, but it was the only thing keeping them awake.

Suddenly, the nurse who had stopped the from entering the OR came into the waiting room and she stopped when she spotted them. She walked over to them and Amberle abruptly stood up without even noticing. 

"Any news?" Wil asked. The nurse hesitated.

"How about you take a seat?" she told them.

"What's wrong? Amberle said as she sat down. "Were there complications?"

"I'm-" the nurse sighed. "I'm very sorry to say this but- Your friend didn't make it." Amberle froze.

"W-What?" she gasped. "Is this some sort of sick joke? Because this isn't funny."

"It's not. I'm sorry" the nurse replied. Amberle felt Wil tense up besides her. He stood up, covering his face as he tried to hold back a sob.

"No- No! This isn't true! I want to see her!" Amberle stood up. "I want to see her now!" she yelled. 

"Amberle" Wil said. He was tearing up as he walked back over to her. 

"No Wil! This is Eretria we're talking about! She's not gone!" her voice cracked. "Where is she?!" she yelled at the nurse again.

"Amberle please" Wil said calmly.

"No! She can't be gone!" she said as Wil tried hugging her. She resisted his embrace but finally melted into it when the tears started falling down her cheeks. She sobbed into his arms. She felt her knees give in under her. Wil kneeled down with her, not letting go of her.

"I know Amberle. I know" he said trying to comfort her as well as himself. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yup, that happened. I've had this particular story arc planned for a while now. And it's not the end of it either, so don't worry. This is a princess rover pic after all.


	9. Chapter 9

"Right this way" the nurse guided them through the hallway. She'd finally agreed to let them see Eretria's body before they took her down to the morgue.

Amberle hadn't said a word ever since her short outburst in the waiting room. Her throat hurt from all the sobbing and her eyes were definitely red from all the tears. She'd quickly gone over denial, anger and bargaining in the waiting room, and Wil was the receiving end of it all. That would probably leave her at depression she thought as she recalled the seven stages of grief that her uncle had told her about when her parents died.

"In here." The nurse pointed at the door in front of them. "You have five minutes before they move her." Wil nodded and guided Amberle into the room. There were nurses cleaning up things around the room, and in the center was a body on the operating table with a sheet covering it. Amberle let out a soft gasp before she covered her face with her hands and rubbing the tears out of her eyes. 

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to" Wil reminded her.

"No. I need to see her." Amberle said as she walked over to the table. She uncovered the top half of the body up the the shoulders, revealing the face and sure enough, it was Eretria. The whole walk to this operating room, Amberle had been holding out hope that she wouldn't see Eretria's dead body in here and that it was all a hoax or some sort of sick joke. But it wasn’t. Amberle studied Eretria's face; her eyes were shut and she looked peaceful. Amberle brushed her fingers over Eretria's cold cheek one last time before all that grief kicked back in and she was sobbing in Wil's arms again.

"Come on." he said as he walked her back to the waiting room. He sat her down on one of the chairs before taking off his blue leather jacket and covering her shoulders with it. "I'll be right back okay? I just need to call Allanon."

"We're gonna have to arrange a funeral." she said suddenly. Wil turned around and sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Cephelo would never do it, even _if_ we decided to let him." she paused. "We're her only family."

"And we're gonna give her the funeral she deserves." he said as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. He then got up and called Allanon on his comms. 

Amberle sat there silently, lost in her own thoughts. She went through blaming herself or thinking about what she would do to Zora the next time she saw her. Anything to keep her mind off of Eretria. She didn't deserve to die. After everything they'd gone through together and after everything Eretria had gone through to change her life for the better, it all ended with Eretria dying before she could fully live her life in freedom. And before she could fully enjoy her life with Amberle. She was so sure that Eretria would make it that she didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye. Eretria was no longer a part of her life.

Amberle shuddered at that last thought. She wrapped her arms around herself as she felt her eyes tearing up again. She looked up to see Wil talking on his comms. He nodded to himself as he said something to Allanon that Amberle couldn't hear. He then made his way back to the seat next to Amberle.

"Allanon said he's sorry for everything that happened. He also said we should go back and get some rest. Next few of days are gonna be tough." he explained. Amberle nodded and pulled up the jacket which was slipping from her shoulders. "We're gonna have to give the hospital information about Eretria before we leave. I'll be right back."

"I want to come with you" Amberle said as she stood up next to Wil.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Wil nodded. They found the nurse that was helping them earlier and asked for the paperwork. She nodded and called over one of the doctors that was operating on Eretria. He sat down with them in the waiting room and took a pen out of his coat pocket before he started asking them questions. He asked the basic questions of name, age and family. Amberle and Wil answered whatever they could since not even Eretria knew about her biological parents.

"So she's adopted?" The dark haired man asked.

"Technically not. She wasn't in the system before she was taken in. She said the man that raised her, never filed any official reports when he took her in. She had no birth certificate or anything, just her name." Wil replied.

"And this man, her guardian-"

"I wouldn't call him a guardian" Amberle interjected.

"Why not?" the doctor asked.

"He never took care of her. He treated her like a any other soldier in his gang that he deemed irrelevant."

"So she's in a gang?" the doctor raised the notepad and started writing again.

" _Was_." Amberle corrected. "She was helping us and the police of Arborlon to take these gangs down."

"And her- The man who raiser her; He wouldn't want to know what happened to her?"

"He's basically the one who did this to her" Amberle said venomously.

"So no family then" he started writing again. After a few seconds he looked back up and gave the two of them a warm smile. "You can come back tomorrow to claim her belongings and her body if you want to arrange a funeral. I'm Doctor Phillips, so if you need anything, just ask for me.

"Thank you" Wil said. He then helped Amberle stand up and they made their way to the van outside. They had been at the hospital all night and it felt strange walking back outside into the cool air. Amberle expected a sunrise in these early morning hours but the sky was cloudy and it was raining. Fitting; she thought. The whole drive back to the apartment she leaned her head against the van window watching the rain drops fall and roll to the bottom of it. When they finally got back she made her way to her room and took off her bloodied clothes before tossing them into a corner. She intended to take a quick shower but her thoughts started to run wild on everything that had happened as soon as the water started running, so she spent most of her shower silently crying as she stood under the rushing water. After she finished vigorously scrubbing and washing the remaining blood from Eretria's wounds off her hands and arms, she got out and got dressed. Her bed was unmade, both sides messy from it's two previous occupants. Her mind went back to her final morning with Eretria. What she would give now to go back and stay in bed with her. She lied down on the side that she always slept on but she switched the pillows, so she could have Eretria's. She could no longer cry, but she could feel her eyes welling up and the tears running down her face.

 

* * *

 

The next day she woke up and went straight to the kitchen downstairs. Allanon was up early as always, although guessing by how late she fell asleep, it was probably later than she thought; at least noon. He was hunched over the counter and going through some files. He looked up at Amberle with a sympathetic expression on his face as she walked in and he looked like he was about to say something but stopped himself.

"I'm very sorry." he then said after a while. Amberle simply nodded, not feeling in the mood to talk to anyone. Her phone also had messages from her uncle Ander which she didn't reply to. She looked in the fridge to find something to eat but she couldn't find anything that seemed appetizing at that moment. She made herself a cup of tea instead and sat down on the couch in the other room.

She hadn't realized how long she had been sitting there before she noticed that her remaining tea was really cold and Wil was suddenly sitting on the other couch next to her drinking what smelled to be coffee.

"Wil." She said suddenly. "We have to go back to the hospital." she said eagerly.

"I know" he said somberly.

"I can drive you both there" Allanon offered.

"No it's- I'm fine, I can drive." Wil replied while staring into his mug.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to rest some more before going?" Allanon asked.

"I don't want her being an unclaimed body any longer than she needs to be" Amberle replied.

"I see" Allanon nodded. "The keys are here on the table when you're ready." he said before he walked into the briefing room to look for more files and books. Amberle didn't even know what kind of files he was always looking through all the time but she assumed it was helpful in _some_ way. 

She then abruptly stood up and made her way upstairs to change. She was quick and when she made her way back downstairs she noticed that Wil was already ready too. 

"We can take my bike. It'll be faster." He said. Amberle nodded and grabbed one of the motorcycle helmets as she made her way outside. Sure enough, the trip was faster as Wil sped through traffic and between cars. Amberle didn't wait for him when they arrived before she got off the bike and made her way to the front desk.

"We're here to claim a body" she said as soon as she was in front of the nurse who was typing something on the computer. The woman looked at her shocked at first but then gave her a half smile when she saw how exhausted Amberle looked.

"I'm going to need some ID and a name please." Amberle handed the nurse her ID.

"Her name's Eretria and she was brought in last night. Bullet wounds." Amberle said as Wil made his way beside her. The nurse started typing on the computer again. She went from focused to confused in seconds.

"Hang on dear." The nurse said as she gave Amberle back her ID and then left. Amberle and Wil waited for her to return, both of them more silent than they'd ever been. The nurse returned with another woman in a business suit and heels who studied what was on the computer herself.

"I'm sorry" The other woman looked to Wil and Amberle. "Are you sure it was last night?"

"Positive" Amberle said.

"Which doctor did you talk to last night?"

"Phillips" Wil added.

"Hhmm" The woman looked confused. "There must be something wrong with the server then." She said to the nurse beside her.

"What's wrong?" Amberle asked.

"I can't find any current files on your friend on our system. Not even anyone with bullet wounds brought in last night."

"Maybe they weren't filed in yet." Amberle said. "Ask Doctor Phillips. He'll remember us."

"I'm afraid Doctor Phillips isn't in today. He got a promotion a week ago and he was called in to claim it today." Amberle looked to Wil. They both had the same thought of how this seemed similar to the their previous cases of missing bodies. "Let me just call the morgue downstairs." The woman added. She made her way to the back of the desk area and made the call. Amberle started fidgeting, feeling anxious. 

"The morgue technician said that your friend's body was picked up for a transfer earlier today." The woman said when she had hung up the phone. Amberle's eyes widened. 

"What do you mean a _transfer_?" She asked furiously. "Where is she?!" She yelled.

"Amberle, calm down" Wil tried keeping the situation nonviolent.

"Don't tell me to calm down Wil." She said grimly as she turned around to face him. "This has been happening with so many other people in the past few weeks and we don't even know what they're doing with the bodies." she yelled. "She deserves to be buried and to rest in peace, and to be somewhere where we can visit her and-" she sobbed, cutting her own sentence short.

"I'm very sorry ma'am." The woman in the business suit spoke up. "If there's anything we can do- _Any_ reimbursement the hospital can make-"

" _Reimbursement_!" Amberle glared at the woman. "She's not an object that you can just pay for, she was a live human being and you better make sure you find her or I'll get the mayor involved!"

"Amberle" Wil warned her calmly. "We shouldn't draw much attention to ourselves" he whispered. "You never now who's listening" He said as he looked around the room.

Amberle sighed before storming out of the hospital. She started pacing next to their parked bike and kicked the back wheel a couple times to relieve her anger. 

"We need that to get home" Wil said as he walked out of the hospital exit.

"We need to find her" Amberle pleaded. "It's my fault she's dead and I'm not gonna fail her again by letting someone dishonor her body-"

"Whoa wait a minute" Wil waved his hands. "You think this is _your_ fault? How could you say that? It's  _not_ your fault Amberle."

"Of course it is. She was trying to save _me._ And I didn't do anything to help her."

"You tried to save her-"

"But I didn't." she said. Wil sighed before looking at her sympathetically.

"You're not the one that shot her. And to be honest, if Eretria could hear you right now, you _know_ she would be pissed. She would kick your ass for even thinking it." Amberle let out a soft chuckle as she wiped a tear falling down her cheek.

"Yeah, she would." she smiled half heartedly.

"See? You shouldn't blame yourself." He smiled at her. "We're gonna get back at Zora _and_ Cephelo. They're not walking away for what they've done." Amberle nodded as she sniffled. " _And_ we're gonna find Eretria and give her a proper burial. I promise." Amberle nodded again and cleared her throat before she put on her helmet and sat on the bike waiting for Wil so they could go home.

 

* * *

 

After a nine days of searching, they'd finally found out where Doctor Phillips had disappeared to. The hospital wouldn't give out such information so Allanon pulled a few strings and finally got an address. He'd moved to a nearby city, about 15 minutes from Arborlon city. They parked the bike across the street from the entrance of Doctor Phillips' new mansion. Amberle scoffed when she thought of how this man was paid off do someone else's dirty work and he was now living in a mansion with no regrets. Wil buzzed the button at the front gate and the screen lit up a few seconds later with Doctor Phillips' face staring back at them through it.

"Can I help you?" the man asked as if he didn't know them.

"I'm not sure if you remember us but you operated on a friend of ours a few days ago. Didn't go so well for her, but you look like you got a promotion out of it." Amberle said bitterly.

"I'm sorry but I'm not available right now." The screen turned back to black as the man quickly hung up.

"He knows something" Amberle looked to Wil.

"He's not gonna talk." Wil shook his head. "We could try catching him at work maybe-" he was interrupted by the loud sound of the large gate being forced open by Amberle's telekinesis. "We can't just break in!" he said shocked as he looked around if anyone was staring.

"We're gonna make him talk whether he likes it or not." she said as she made her way into the driveway and towards the front door. 

"Amberle-" Wil tried but knew he wouldn't be able to stop her so he sighed exasperatedly and followed her.

The front door opened and the doctor walked outside with a phonon his hand. "Get out or I'm calling the cops!" he warned. 

Amberle lifted her hand and used her telekinesis to push him up against the wall next to the front door. He dropped the phone and looked at her shocked and afraid. Amberle continued glaring at the man and held him there despite Wil protesting behind her.

"We're gonna have a little talk doctor" she said as she let him down. He gasped as if he were being strangled before, and by the amount of force Amberle had used to keep him up against the wall, it probably felt like that.

"Okay, okay" he said as he lead the two of them into his living room. He sat down on one of the expensive looking couches and Amberle and Wil sat down on the one across from him. "What do you want to know?"

"We know that these "accidental" transfers aren't actually accidental. Where are all these bodies going and what does it have to do with the Enhanced gang?" Amberle asked. The man across them sighed and took a sip of the drink he had on the table in front of him. Most definitely alcohol.

"First of all, it's not just me, okay? A lot of doctors do it so I took the opportunity I was given."

"What opportunity?" Wil asked.

"Some people came into my office a week before you came into the hospital with your friend. One of them was definitely a politician. He was wearing an expensive suit, but the rest of them were dressed in plain dark clothes. The politician offered me a promotion. He said that there would be a day that they would call in a favor and I would need to comply to fulfill the promotion. So when your friend came in- well- they uh-" He cleared his throat. "They wanted her body. I didn't ask why because part of the agreement was not to ask any questions. So as soon as she died, I organized a transfer when they sent her to the morgue. The morgue technician seemed to be in on it too. These masked men just walked in and loaded her body into the back of a black van with tinted windows. _Real_  suspicious stuff. But again, I wasn't supposed to ask any questions. Then a few hours later, I got a wire transfer with all the money I was promised in the promotion offer along with a new job in a new city. So, I bought this house and moved in immediately before anything else came up."

"Were those masked men part of the Enhanced gang?" Amberle asked.

"I think so. I mean, it would make sense that they've got higher-up friends in the government to back them up."

"And that would explain why people who were presumed dead are being seen with the Enhanced." Wil added.

"What are they doing with these bodies though?" Amberle asked. She turned her attention back to the doctor. "Was Eretria _really_ dead?"

"I'm afraid so. They could be using some sort of identity theft. You can't catch a criminal whose face belongs to a dead person." the man replied.

"You think they're using some sort of face-altering technology to steal identities?" Wil asked.

"It's possible. The Enhanced gang have a lot of friends in a lot of places, so who knows what kind of stuff they've got access t-" the man suddenly stopped talking after Amberle heard a crack of glass and felt something whiz passed her ear. The doctor's white shirt suddenly started turning red on his chest. He looked down at his chest, shocked that it was bleeding and his glass of whiskey slipped from his hand and on to the carpet. Another crack and there was suddenly a small bullet wound on his forehead. He slid off the couch and fell to the ground. Amberle quickly looked at the window behind her to see two small bullet holes in the glass.

"Sniper!" she yelled as she pulled Wil to the ground with her. It was quiet and Amberle peaked over the couch. Someone was packing up a sniper rifle on the roof of the building across the street. Amberle couldn't see him or her well from the distance but their face was covered with some sort of mask and they were wearing dark clothing. The Enhanced gang was tying up their loose ends. "It's the Enhanced gang!" she yelled before sprinting outside to the driveway.

"Amberle wait!" Wil called as she ran out. As soon as she got through the front door, the sniper seemed to look at her one last time before he or she vanished into thin air, leaving a black streak in the air behind them, like it was smoke-like streak lines in their trail. Amberle stopped in her tracks and and stared at the spot where the sniper had been, feeling both confused and frustrated.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that finals are over I'll be updating more frequently. Enjoy!

The police arrived in a matter of minutes after Wil had called them. She and Wil were both questioned by different officers and Amberle could see her two uncles glancing at her every time they walked passed her. She was _not_ looking forward to another lecture from her uncle Arion. As expected both her uncles made their way over to her as soon as the other officer was finished questioning her.

"We're so glad you're okay. " her uncle Ander said with a smile before hugging her. "It's great to see you Amberle."

"Did you break into this man's house?" her uncle Arion wasted no time to start scolding her.

"Nice to see you too uncle Arion" she said sarcastically.

"That from gate was forced open. Almost ripped off it's hinges and-"

"He had information we needed."

"So you break into his house? I knew we shouldn't have sent you to live with that fool Allanon. He just always causes trouble."

"Allanon did _nothing_ wrong. And we didn't _technically_ break into his house. I just opened the gate and... _convinced_  him to let us in."

"What do you mean by 'convinced?'" Arion said as he crossed his arms.

"She means, she yelled at him from a distance and didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to." Wil interjected as he glanced at Amberle and she mentally thanked him for covering for her. Arion scoffed.

"Did you at least get a good look at the shooter?" he asked.

"No. He- he just disappeared into thin air" she said. "He- or she, was definitely enhanced."

"Teleporter maybe?" Ander asked Arion.

"Maybe." he furrowed his brows. "Uh- Good work then." he said before he walked away. It sounded like it was meant for Amberle and Wil but Arion barely looked up at them before he left. 

"You know how he can be? Always so uptight." Ander said. Amberle nodded. "I heard about what happened with your friend. The Rover."

"How do you know about her?" Amberle stiffened as she shifted nervously on the car hood she was sitting on.

"Allanon let us know you were having a rough time. I wanted to visit you but, I thought you might need some space. But anyway, I'm sorry for what happened." Amberle blinked a few times to hold back the tears she felt forming in her eyes. 

"Thank you" she said before she hugged her uncle.

"We're looking into the missing bodies cases." he said when they pulled back.

"Any leads?" Wil asked.

"I'm afraid not. But we're definitely close. Especially with the information you two got from the doctor today. And the fact that the Enhanced have a skilled sniper with a good rifle and a silencer for it, is impressive but unsettling. If they have all these connections in the government with politicians, who knows if they have any cops on their side too." he sighed. "Why don't you two get back home. Get some rest."

The two of them nodded before they made their way to the bike and took off. When they finally got into the suburbs and into the main city area they stopped at a diner for some food. They had a booth right by the large window, giving them a full view of the street. Amberle glanced up at Wil a few times but she noticed he wasn't gonna say anything anytime soon. She could feel the awkwardness growing every silent second.

"What's on your mind?" she finally asked. "You look like you're _trying_ to not talk to me."

"It's just-" he sighed. "It's not something I think we should discuss right now."

"Why not?" she glared at him. "Is this about what happened back there?" Wil stayed silent. "I'll take that as a yes." she scoffed. "He had information we needed Wil, and you _know_ that."

"I know that, but you were just- _so_  aggressive and it looked like you were gonna hurt him."

"I would have if he decided not to cooperate."

"See? This is what I'm talking about. I know you're distraught about what happened to Eretria but you can't just hurt people like you were going to today. Eretria wouldn't want you acting like this."

"Don't you _dare_ bring her up right now Wil." she growled. "You think I don't know that? Yes, obviously, if she were alive I wouldn't be like this. But she's not. And the only way for me to cope with that is to release my anger at the people that did this to her so I don't remind myself how _devastated_ I actually am. So _don't_  lecture me about it."

Wil was about to speak up but he stopped himself when he heard sirens. They both looked out the window to see a few police cars speeding by. "Something's wrong" he said. "Let's go, we'll talk about this later."

They rushed outside to the bike and followed the speeding vehicles. They eventually arrived at one of Arborlon's smaller banks. A few police squad cars were in the street forming a line of cover for the officers behind them. Another robbery, no doubt. There were a few officers guarding the perimeter to keep civilians safe. Amberle walked up to one who was near them.

"Is it the Enhanced Gang?" she asked? The officer looked at her.

"Yes. Now please stand back ma'am." 

"Then you need to let us help. We work with Allanon and we're enhanced too." The officer looked annoyed at the two of them. 

"I don't care, this is police business and you kids need to stay back. Plus we've got a special unit coming down here right now."

"What kind of special unit?" Wil asked.

"The kind that specializes in taking down people like you." he said rather venomously. "Now get back." He said as he motioned for them to move back.

Amberle looked to the bank. The alarm was going off but there was no sign of the robbers. They probably had hostages inside if the police weren't moving in. Suddenly the front door shot open and something rushed out of the bank. Amberle saw nothing but a streak moving around. A few officers started shooting at it but they weren't fast enough to see it, to get a direct hit. The next thing Amberle saw was the officers that were hiding behind the cars for cover being knocked over or thrown into the air.The officer in front of them swiftly turned around and pulled out his pistol before firing at whatever was attacking. He started walking closer but he was suddenly thrown back by something. When Amberle looked back up, all the officers were down and a figure was standing at the centre of it all with a black and grey hoodie, black pants and shoes, with a filtered mask covering the lower part of their face and some dark goggles covering the top and their head covered with the hoodie.

"Wil! It's the sniper. It's not teleportation, it's super-speed!" she said sounding slightly impressed.

"Either way, it's not gonna be easy to stop all of them" he said as he pointed at the the rest of the Enhanced walking out of the bank. "Cops are down, so it's up to us."

"Right." Amberle replied, getting ready. Like Wil said, this wasn't gonna be easy. She looked to the three Enhanced that had just walked out of the bank. They were wearing similar outfits to the speedster minus the goggles and the filter mask. Instead they wore either bandanas to cover their lower face or ski masks, with their hoodies up over their heads. The speedster was the shorter one of the group and the other three were taller than Amberle.

Wil suddenly charged forward using his powers to blast at them. The speedster disappeared leaving a black and grey streak in their path. One of the others pulled of their ski mask and threw it to the ground. It was a girl with short red hair and a devilish smile on her face. She countered Wil's energy blast with a blast of fire.

"What are you doing?! Put your mask back on!" One of the Enhanced said with a deep voice. 

"I'm just gonna have some fun with blondie over here. The mask was itching my face." she said as she started launching fire balls at Wil. He jumped to the side and rolled a few times to avoid being hit. 

"Newbies..." The other Enhanced sighed. He looked to the taller man next to him. "Deal with the girl, I'll load the money into the van."

The taller one nodded and walked towards Amberle. He was the only one that wasn't wearing any gloves and Amberle realized why when his hands instantly turned to metal. He started punching and Amberle kept dodging and walking backwards. One punch would probably kill her. She looked behind him to see the fourth member with his eyes shut like he was focusing on his thoughts. Amberle guessed he might be telepathic or something along those lines. The speedster was back and speeding in and out of the bank with more money before loading it into the grey van they had parked outside. When she looked back at her assailant she almost missed him trowing another punch from above. She quickly jumped out of the way and fell to the ground as his fist hit the street in the spot where she had previously been. That small area was shattered from the force of the punch. Amberle's eyes widened in shock. She looked behind her and levitated a metal trash can on the sidewalk and threw it at the man. He was caught by surprise and was hit in the head but failed to even knock him out. She then pulled out a sign from the bus stop bench behind her and threw it at him. She looked to Wil who was also struggling with keeping up with his attacker.

"Switch?" she yelled.

"Definitely!" he replied. Amberle rolled out of the way of another punch and levitated the trash can from before before throwing it at the red haired girl, knocking her out. Wil sprinted from behind the car he was using for cover and blasted his energy blast at the taller man, throwing him into the wall of a building across the street. They heard sirens in the distance. He looked to Amberle "Looks like backup is on its-" he was suddenly thrust backwards before falling to the ground. Amberle didn't have time to react before she felt something hit her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her before she fell to the ground. She looked up to see the speedster standing above her, with a knife in their hand. She lifted her arm to use her powers but the speedster was instantly right on top of her and suddenly stabbed her palm, holding it to the ground. Amberle screamed in pain. 

"Amberle!" she heard Wil yell. The speedster stiffened before looking at Wil and back at Amberle. Amberle was about to use the moment of distraction to her advantage before she heard some sort of weapon being fired and the speedster being hit with an electricity pulse before collapsing to the ground. Amberle slowly pulled the knife out of her hand, as she whimpered in pain. Wil made his way over to her as quick as he could. "You okay?" he asked as he examined her hand.

"I'm fine. Just a minor flesh wound." 

"Well it looks painful." Wil said as he started tapping her fingers. "Can you feel this?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That's good. It means your nerves weren't hit. It should heal. Let's get you to a paramedic." Amberle nodded.

She stood up and saw the "special unit" the officer had been talking about earlier. They looked like a SWAT squad but their weapons were much more advanced. Like electricity pulse riffle they had fired at the speedster. Amberle looked back to see that the rest of the Enhanced had gotten up and escaped before police backup arrived. Even their van was gone with all the money. Another loss to Enhanced gang. But at least they had someone to interrogate now. Reporters started gathering around the scene, with microphones trying to ask questions, others were taking pictures, their cameras constantly flashing, but the police didn't seem like they were gonna say anything to any of them. One of the special unit officers ran over to the knocked out speedster place a power dampening collar on the speedster's neck which lit up a green light when it was activated, like the ones Cephelo had once used on her and Wil. Looking closer, Amberle noticed that the speedster was a girl, now that she wasn't running around at super-speed. She started gaining consciousness and the officer grabbed her by the arm and lifted her forcefully before handcuffing her hands behind her back. He pulled back the hoodie to reveal long black hair, before pulling off the goggles and the small filter mask. The girl turned around, her face now revealed, and all Amberle could do was stare in shock.

" _Eretria_?" she asked as her voice cracked. She could feel her eyes filling up with tears. Eretria looked back at her with a bank but slightly angered expression on her face. Her brown eyes were cloudy white and she said nothing to reply. The officer pulled her forward towards one of the police cars. "No, wait!" Amberle called after them. The officer opened the car door and pushed Eretria in. "You don't understand!" Amberele said when she had that officer's attention. "I need to talk to her! She's our friend!"

"She's a criminal. You want to talk to her; then you come by for visiting hours. Now step back young lady." The press behind them was going wild trying to get a picture or to get any questions answered when they saw that one of the Enhanced was captured. The officers kept pushing them back. The car then drove off, and Amberle couldn't help but stare at Eretria as the car passed by her. She looked back at Wil who was equally as shocked as Amberle, with his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

"You saw her right? I'm not crazy, right Wil? Please tell me you saw her too."

"I-I did." he then shook his head to snap himself out of shock. "But we shouldn't get our hopes up. It might not even be her."

"I know Eretria when I see her Wil. They did something to her. It was like she was in some kind of trance."

"Amberle. We saw her die. We saw her dead body. What if it _is_ some sort of high tech identity theft? Maybe they've got plastic surgeons-"

"I _know_ it was her Wil! We have to get to the station and talk to her. Let's go!" she said as she ran to Wil's bike. 

 

* * *

 

When they got to the station, it was a frenzy in there with cops running around handling calls with press or the mayor's office or handling witnesses from the robbery. Amberle couldn't even find either of her uncles but fortunately they _did_ find Allanon.

"Allanon! What are you doing here?" Wil asked.

"I was informed a member of the Enhanced gang was caught and I'm here to offer my help."

"Allanon, it was Eretria. The Enhanced they caught; it was Eretria." Amberle said.

"How-"

"It doesn't matter. But I  _need_ to talk to her Allanon." Amberle begged.

"That's not up to me." he replied. Suddenly Amberle's uncle Ander walked into the room and walked up to the three of them when he spotted them.

"What are you doing here Amberle?"

"The Enhanced that was captured is our friend and I need to talk to her." 

"I'm afraid you're not gonna get much out of her. We stared interrogating her as soon as we got her here and she hasn't said a single word."

"She'll talk to me, I know it. Just give me a few minutes alone with her."

"I'm afraid I can't do that Amberle."

 _"Please_  uncle Ander. Just a few minutes." her uncle sighed.

"Fine. I'll arrange a few minutes. But watch your back. She could still be dangerous even without the powers." he said before he walked off.

"Are you sure you wanna do this Amberle?" Wil asked worriedly. "What if-"

"I don't care about 'what ifs' right now. If there's a chance that it's her, I'm gonna talk to her." Amberle then took a seat on one of the benches with Wil beside her and Allanon standing next to them, looking around and examining the room. She looked down at her hand which was bandaged before they left because Wil insisted on getting it checked by paramedics before they left for the station. It throbbed from the pain. A few minutes later her uncle motioned his hand for her to follow him. They eventually made their way into a room she hadn't seen before with a big cell with only Eretria inside. Amberle sat outside the cell door and looked at the other girl. 

"There's a dampening field in this room so your powers won't work in here. If you need anything, just call me." he said before he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. Amberle examined the room. The walls were grey, the cell took up most of the room and it had a couple of beds and a few benches as well as a metal toilet bowl and a sink. Eretria was sitting on the floor across from her against the wall, not even acknowledging Amberle's presence.

"Eretria. It's me, Amberle." the other girl didn't look up. "What happened to you Eretria? How are you alive?" Eretria continued ignoring Amberle. "Do you not remember me? We were friends. Do you remember that?" Still nothing from the other girl. "Eretria, please talk to me." Amberle said as she tried to hold back a sob. "I can help you if you just _talk_ to me." Eretria finally looked up at Amberle her eyes still cloudy white.

"Why would you help _me_?" she asked.

"Because I- Because we're... friends. Closer than friends actually." Eretria looked away again. "Tell me what happened to you. What's the first thing you remember?" Eretria was silent for a while before answering.

"Pain."

"What kind of pain?"

"The worst kind. The kind that makes you wish you weren't alive." Amberle started fidgeting nervously.

"I'm sorry you had to suffer like that. What do you know about yourself?" Amberle asked.

"Nothing. Ever since the rebirth, I've been doing what I was told. I fulfilled my duties to my leader."

"Rebirth? What is that?"

"A ceremony most of us went through. It helped us fulfill our true purposes. It took the pain away, but it also took something else away too."

"And what's that?"

"I- I'm not sure. I just know that somethings missing. A piece of me." she paused. "If we were close, tell me what happened to me."

"You- uh... You died. Over a week ago. And then your body disappeared."

"How?"

"You were protecting me. Someone shot you. It was bad and the doctors tried to save you but..." Eretria ran her fingers over her side where one of the bullets had hit her that night. "You remember?"

"I remember feeling that."

"What else do you remember?" Eretria shrugged. "Back at the bank, there was a moment where you hesitated. Wil said my name and you seemed distracted by it."

"I remembered something when I heard it. I felt something. I don't know what it was but it felt good, hearing your name." Amberle smiled. 

"I can help you remember all of it. We'll find a way. We just need more information on what they did to you." Eretria nodded. "Your eyes." Amberle muttered. "Why are they like that?" Eretria shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with your missing memories. It's clear though, that you remember things when you get a trigger of memory from certain prompts, like my name." Eretria stood up and walked towards the cell door where Amberle was sitting. She sat down in front of her and stared at her through the bars. "What are you doing?" Amberle asked as Eretria examined her face.

"Trying to remember" she said as she reached up and ran her fingers down Amberle's cheek. Amberle automatically reached up and grabbed her hand without realizing, and caressing it with her thumb. Eretria looked at Amberles bandaged hand and pulled away. "Your hand. _I_ did hat to you."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. You weren't yourself."

"Yes I was. I remember doing it. I remember everything from the past few days. The people I hurt or killed."

It's okay Eretria, you were being manipulated and told what to do. It's not your fault."

"Yes it was!" she yelled angrily. Suddenly she clutched her head and started screaming in pain as she fell to the ground.

"Eretria!" Amberle yelled before she made her way to the door and called out for help. Allanon came out of nowhere along with her uncle Ander and rushed into the room. Ander unlocked the cell door and Allanon went in and kneeled beside Eretria and pressed his fingers to her temples. Amberle had never seen him use his telepathic abilities, but that's what it looked like he was doing. Eretria eventually stopped crying out in pain before she passed out. "What just happened?!" Amberle yelled.

"They did something to her. We have to get her back to the apartment. I can treat her there." He picked her up and carried her outside. 

"Understood." Under said. Surprisingly.

"Really? That easy?" Amberle asked.

"There's a lot of stuff here that we don't know how to deal with but Allanon can. My father agrees so he arranged for Allanon to do what needs to do without interference from us." Ander said.

"Is she going to be okay?" Amberle asked Allanon.

"Only time will tell." Allanon replied.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long to update even though I said I would lol. I just lost the inspiration I had for this story for a while. I'll try to get back on track soon. Enjoy!

Allanon took Eretria - who was now passed out - back to the apartment, ignoring all of Amberle's questions on the way there. She even suggested they go to a hospital which was quite ironic given everything that happened the last time they were at a hospital, but Allanon insisted that he was the only one that could help her. Wil scrambled out of the car to open the door for Allanon. Allanon ran upstairs with Eretria in his arms and set her down on the couch before running to his room. Amberle kneeled down beside the girl and held her hand.

"Please be okay" she muttered. Eretria started stirring and mumbling things that Amberle couldn't make out. It was like she was having a nightmare. Allanon suddenly came running back from his room with a briefcase. He unlocked it and opened it up revealing a bunch of tools, chemicals and herbs.

"What are-" Wil tried to ask.

"Not now; I need to focus." Allanon said as he kneeled down next to Amberle. He placed two fingers on each of Eretria's temples on her forehead and closed his eyes. He was using his telepathy which Amberle rarely ever saw him use. His brows furrowed before he opened his eyes again. "Another telepath did this to her. That's why she can't remember anything. Looks like they might be stronger than I am."

"Can you help her?" Amberle asked eagerly.

"I will try." Allanon then started turning Eretria's head and looking for something on her neck. When he finally spotted it at the back of her neck he flipped her over with Amberle’s help and pulled her jacket down under her shoulder revealing her tattoo. But this time every edge of the tattoo was spreading in lines over her left arm and up her neck towards her head. There was a large metal ring embedded in her skin on the back of her neck, which was the root her darkened veins and the strange dark lines on her skin. It even affected her tattoo, causing the red lines coming out of it to turn to a dark purple, almost black.

He quickly pulled out a scissor plier out of his briefcase and cut off edges of the ring before pulling the spikes of it out of Eretria's skin and he then crushed some herbs in a bowl to put on her wound. The darkened veins went back to normal and the dark purple lines on her skin turned black like they were tattoos. Allanon flipped Eretria over again. "Hold her down. She might be disoriented when she wakes up and we can't let her run away." Amberle straddled Eretria's lap and held her hands down to the couch. Allanon placed his fingers back to Eretria's head and shut his eyes again, continuing what he had started before. Eretria was screaming in pain again and struggling against Amberle's grasp. Amberle kept having to remind herself that this was necessary to get her back. Allanon gasped and instantly pulled his hands away.

"Did it work?" Amberle asked, her eyes not leaving Eretria. Eretria's eyes suddenly shot open. Her eyes were no longer that clouded white color that they had been earlier. Instead they had returned to the natural brown Amberle remembered staring into many times before. She struggled under Amberle, eventually pushing her off and stood up clutching her head with one of her hands, while she grabbed a scalpel from Allanon's briefcase and waved it around.

"Stay back!" she yelled.

"Eretria it's us." Amberle started to slowly move closer to the other girl with her hand held forward to try to prevent Eretria from using that knife on her. She could see Wil from the corner of her eye as he tried moving closer to help with their current situation.

"I don't know any of you. What did you do to me?"

"We tried to help you remember who you are. Just put the knife down, please." Amberle tried.

"I- No. You just made things worse." Eretria looked confused as she clutched her head as if it hurt.

"You're starting to remember aren't you? It's me, Amberle" Eretria examined the other girl.

"Amberle?"

"Yeah." Amberle moved closer. Eretria started lowering the knife slowly as if she were unsure.

"I know that name."

"And that's Wil. We're your friends, we don't want to hurt you. So can you put down the knife Eretria? For me?" The knife fell to the ground as it slipped out of Eretria's hand. "That's it. Come sit here with me okay?" She gently grabbed Eretria's hand and led her to the couch. She looked over to Wil who was tending to Allanon as he got off the ground. 

"I think I remember now." Eretria said as she reached down to feel the areas which she had been shot. "Wil and Allanon." she said as she pointed to the two men. "Amberle" she looked to the other girl. Her expression made it seem as if she were terrified, and her eyes looked like they were tearing up. Amberle had never seen her this vulnerable before. She suddenly felt Eretria hug her tightly, burying her face into her neck and sobbing.

"It's okay. I've got you." Amberle said as she tried to comfort the other girl.

"Don't let them take me back. Please" she muttered.

"I won't. I'm not losing you again." she pulled back from the hug, cupped Eretria's cheek and looked into her eyes as if it were the last time she could. Her skin felt hot and she brought her hand up to Eretria's forehead, to feel her temperature. "You're burning up" she said worriedly.

"A side effect of the... process she just went through" Allanon still wasn't giving them all the details about what happened. "Take her upstairs. She needs to rest. Wil and I will be down here if you need anything." Wil then walked up to Eretria and hugged her tightly. 

"I'm glad you're okay" his voice cracked. "We thought we lost you."

"You can't lose me. Who would be here to tell you two when you're being stupid?” she grinned. Wil laughed, wiping a few tears from his cheek.

"There's the Eretria we remember. As sarcastic as ever." he joked.

"That's one of the qualities that I'll never lose." she said as she and Amberle made their way over to the steps. Eretria was still a little weak so Amberle had to help her get up the stairs. When they finally got to Eretria's room, Amberle set her down on the bed, closed the door and went into the bathroom to get a wet towel. She grabbed a towel from the cabinet under the sink and rinsed it with cool water before she joined Eretria on the bed. She sat next to Eretria who was lying down and started wiping her face with the wet towel to cool her down. She noticed that Eretria was staring at her and smiling.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. I just remembered how mothering you could be" she said weakly.

"I'm not-"

"And how frustrated you get when I point it out." Amberle blushed.

"It's just- You died and I- I couldn't-" she sighed. "Don't leave me again. Please" she felt her tears welling up in her eyes. She paused and looked down to the towel she was fumbling with. "I missed you" she said after a moment of silence.

"I would have missed you too if I remembered you" she joked. Amberle smiled. "And I'm not planing on dying or leaving you again" she said as she sat up and placed her hands on Amberle's face. She rubbed circles on her cheeks with her thumbs before she moved her fingers down the side Amberle's forehead to her cheek and then she ran her thumb over her lips. "I don't wanna forget this face ever again" she said before she pulled her close and brought their lips together. It was a tender and comforting kiss. Something they both needed. Amberle could feel Eretria's hands going through her hair. Amberle brought her own hands to Eretria's hips, pulling her closer.

"I love you" she said absentmindedly between every heavy breath as they kissed. Eretria suddenly stopped and pulled back to look at the girl. Amberle's eyes widened. "I'm- Oh my god- I'm sorry! It's just after everything that happened I realized-" She felt Eretria put her finger to her lips to stop her mid-sentence.

"No no. That's not why I stopped. I just- I love you too" she smiled. "No one's said that to me in a long time."

"Oh good" Amberle said relieved. "I was afraid I was rushing into things-"

"You're such a dork." Eretria teased and smiled at Amberle. Amberle smiled back before she kissed her again.

"Oh there's one more thing. I don't know if you remember this but you're enhanced now. Like me and Wil."

“Yeah, I know" she said somberly.

"You do?" Eretria nodded, as she frowned. "What's wrong?" Amberle asked concerned.

"Nothing" Eretria said as she turned around.

"Please don't shut me out Eretria. Not after everything that happened to you. I’m here for you." Amberle said. Eretria sighed.

"I remember everything. How I got these powers, what they did to me... Dying. None of it was pleasant. Every time I think about any of it, it's not just remembering. It's like I'm reliving that moment. All these emotions and all that pain. It hurts. And hurting you-" she said as she glanced at Amberle's bandaged hand. "That's the worst part" Amberle stayed silent as she caressed Eretria's hand.

"What did it feel like?" she said after a moment. "Dying." Eretria's expression was even more somber and gloom than it was before.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have asked that so soon.”

“No it’s fine. All I can remember was... darkness and pain. I remember taking my last breath and all the pain went away. Then I woke up and all I could remember was so much pain as if I were reliving the pain I felt before I died and then a feeling of despair and loneliness. Feeling like I wasn’t supposed to be awake. Like I didn’t want to be awake.” she sighed. “The man who did this to me offered to take my pain away, so he did… whatever he did and took my memories away. He made me into this emotionless shell, doing anything he told me to do. He said if any of us ever disobeyed him, we would go back to suffering." Amberle stared in shock at the other girl.

“Is that what happened to you earlier? In the cell?”

“That was just the tip of the iceberg; like a warning.”

"Who was he?"

"None of us knew who he was. He always wore a mask."

“And how did he bring you back?"

"I'm not sure. There was some kind of ceremony. I woke up feeling like I was being electrocuted but also like I could feel my power flowing through me. He had gem or stone or something like that. A big one. And he was using it for…something…” she sighed, struggling to remember. “And then he used that ring I think.” she rubbed the back of her neck where the ring was before Allanon pulled it out. I- I can't remember most of this stuff, I'm sorry Amberle."

"Hey" she said softly. "There's is absolutely no reason for you to be sorry. You've been through so much. You're home now so just relax" she ran her fingers down Eretria's cheek to her chin. She felt Eretria pull her close and kiss her again before she lied back down and Amberle leaned over her. It was just as soft and tender as before but it went deeper than before. Eretria pulled Amberle's shirt off and Amberle reached down to pull Eretria's off, but Eretria's hands stopped her. 

"Wait" she said.

"What's wrong?" Amberle said, fearing that she did something wrong. Amberle pulled back but Eretria stopped her again.

"No- It’s not you. I just feel weird, with those scars” Amberle kissed Eretria again before Amberle slid her hoodie off and ran her fingers slowly over Eretria's new scars as well as her new tattoos on her arm. Amberle moved down, leaving kisses on Eretria's neck and down her chest and belly, over her scars.

“I got you.” Amberle muttered. “You’re safe with me.” she said before she brought her lips back up to Eretria’s, letting out a short breath and kissing her again. She suddenly pulled back and grabbed her shirt, before putting it back on, leaving Eretria stunned. 

“Wha-“

“You need to rest. You've had a long day.”

“But-“

“Not ‘buts’, you need to rest.” Amberle got up and walked over to her dresser, pulling some clothes. “Here’s something comfortable you can wear tonight. And I’ll be sleeping in here with you.” Eretria gave her a sly grin. “I just want to keep an eye on you” Amberle laughed. 

After Eretria changed she lied back down into her bed, resting her head on Amberle’s chest who was lying down next to her. Amberle had her arm wrapped around Eritrea’s shoulders. She kissed her head one more time before leaning back against the pillow. 

Eretria had fallen asleep in a matter of seconds, leaving Amberle to her thoughts as she stared at the ceiling. Even with Eretria next to her in her embrace, she still felt like she was in danger and that she couldn’t protect her. Losing her was hard. And the fact that her captors put her through so much torture after killing her and resurrecting her just made her angrier and more eager to get revenge on them. It wasn't too late in the night but after all the emotional and physical struggles she went through today, she eventually drifted off and fell asleep as she listened to the rhythm of Eritrea’s breaths. Every breath reassured Amberle that Eretria was there safe with her, and still breathing. She woke up twice throughout the night, feeling worried that Eretria wouldn't be there or that she would stop breathing. She spent a few seconds listening to the other girl’s soft breaths before falling back asleep.

The next time she woke up, it was a lot later in the night and Eretria wasn’t next to her. She sat up quickly, looking around, feeling worried when she didn’t see Eretria. She looked at the bathroom door which was shut, with light flowing under the door on the floor. She sighed, feeling relieved before she made her way over to the bathroom.

“Eretria?” she knocked on the door. She heard the sink water running and she knocked again with no answer. She opened the door and made her way in, finding Eretria hunched over the sink. “Hey” she said softly. “You okay?” Eretria looked up at her.

“Yeah, I just have a headache. I felt a little dizzy so I came to rinse my face with some cold water.” Amberle placed her palm on Eritrea’s forehead.

“You still have a fever.” Amberle picked up a towel from the sink counter and wet it before wiping Eritrea’s face with it again. “Come lie back down.” She led Eretria to the bed and placed the damp towel on her forehead after she lied down. She grabbed a bottle of water from the table next to her and gave it to Eretria to drink. Eretria stayed silent. “Is something else wrong?” Amberle asked. Eretria hesitated before answering.

“I had nightmares. It’s hard to stay asleep.”

“About what?”

“Everything that happened ever since I… came back. The people I hurt or killed.”

“You weren’t in control” Amberle replied as she caressed Eritrea’s cheek. “That wasn’t you.”

“I know but- It still _felt_ like it was me.”

“You were a victim in all this. Everything they did to you-“ she cut herself off. “They’re the ones to blame.” She put her arm over Eretria, pulling her close. “Just go to sleep and rest. I’m right here for you.”


End file.
